Controlling settings and attributes related to operation of devices in a network

ABSTRACT

Techniques are described for controlling attributes and/or settings related to operation of devices via a wireless network. An access device can determine a status of a configurable attribute/setting related to operation of a device (e.g., a home automation network device that can control a home appliance) connected to the network. The computing device can execute an application that can generate and display a graphical interface including an interactive area or an interactive element to control the device. The interactive element or the graphical interface can indicate a current value for the setting/attribute. The interactive area or element can be adjustable to adjust the setting/attribute. An adjusted value of the setting/attribute can be communicated to the network which can cause operation of the device to be controlled based on the adjusted value. The computing device can modify the graphical interface to indicate the adjusted value of the setting/attribute.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to controlling attributes and/or settingsrelated to operation of devices via a network. Specifically, varioustechniques and systems are provided for providing interfaces to enableconfiguration of attributes and/or settings related to operation ofdevices (e.g., appliances) via a wireless network.

BACKGROUND

Any residence, office, or establishment may have devices (e.g., lamps,fans, sensors, heaters, light bulbs, etc.) that are configurable. Thesedevices may be adjustable to control various attributes and/or settings(e.g., speed, power, brightness, sensitivity, etc.) related to operationof those devices. Some devices that are adjustable may be operatedremotely within a wireless network. For example, a home automationdevice may provide a user with the ability to control one or moreappliances within the user's home. However, some devices may havedifferent capabilities and functionalities. The differences incapabilities and functionalities of network-enabled devices may presentchallenges for controlling of attributes through use of a homeautomation network device. Remote devices may be unfamiliar withdifferent interfaces and/or capabilities of the devices to provide aninterface for controlling different types of devices.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Techniques are described for controlling attributes and/or settingsrelated to operation of devices via a wireless network. A computingdevice (e.g., an access device) can determine a status of one or moreattributes and/or settings related to operation of one or more devicesconnected to a wireless network. The devices can include networkdevices, such as home automation network devices, which can control homeappliances and devices (e.g., a lamp, a sensor, a heater, a fan, aswitch, or a light bulb) that may have adjustable settings and/orattributes related to operation of the devices. The attributes and/orsettings may be adjustable or configurable within a range of values orbetween different states. The computing device can execute anapplication that can generate and display a graphical interfaceincluding an interactive element or interactive area to control a deviceon the network. The interactive element or graphical interface canindicate a current value for each setting for the device. Theinteractive element or area can be adjustable to adjust one or more ofthe settings. The computing device can communicate an adjusted value ofthe setting to the network. The communication of the adjusted value cancause operation of the device to be controlled based on the adjustedvalue. The computing device can modify the graphical interface toindicate the adjusted value of the status.

In some embodiments, a computing device may initially determine thedevices that are connected to a network. The determination may be madebased on whether the computing device located within the wirelessnetwork of the devices or located remote from the wireless network. Thecomputing device may have access to the wireless network based on itsauthentication with a logical network which enables access to thewireless network. In some embodiments, the computing device may performlocal network discovery while within the wireless network to identifythe devices connected to the network. Upon determining that thecomputing device is not located within the network, the computing devicecan determine the devices on the network by communicating with a cloudnetwork to obtain information about devices on the network. The cloudnetwork can store a status of devices on the network. The computingdevice can also determine devices on the network by accessing a localcache that can contain information it has previously received aboutdevices known to exist on the network. The computing device candetermine a status of the devices based on its local cache, informationreceived from the cloud, or by direct communication with the deviceswithin the local network. The computing device can access statusinformation from the local cache to present in a display to a user.

In some embodiments, the computing device can execute an applicationthat can cause the computing device to present the graphical interfacecontaining information (e.g., status) about devices discovered in thenetwork. The graphical interface can present a visual interface for eachdevice accessible on the network. In some embodiments, the visualinterface corresponding to a device can be rendered as a modular tilewith one or more interactive elements or one or more interactive areasto control operation of the device. The visual interface correspondingto a device can provide a status of the device. These basic propertiescan include, for example, a default icon, a default name, interactiveelements, and/or interactive areas for controlling one or morefunctionalities of a device. The functionalities can include, forexample, powering the network device on and off. The functionalities canenable adjustment of adjustable attributes and/or settings for a device.For example, a device can be a light bulb, for which attributes orsettings can be controlled via the tile.

In certain embodiments, the status or state of a device can be indicatedin the graphical interface, such as within the tile, with text and/orgraphically. The status of the device can change based on time (e.g., aperiod, an interval, or other time schedule). The status of a device maybe any piece of information pertinent to that particular device. Thestatus of a device may be any adjustable of changeable variable,attribute, or setting related to operation of that particular device.For example, the status of a device may include a state of the deviceitself (e.g., on or off). In certain embodiments, the status can includea value or other criteria for a setting or an attribute related tooperation of a device. The setting or the attribute can be adjustablewithin a range of values. For example, the device can be a light bulband the status can include a value corresponding to an amount ofbrightness (e.g., a percentage of total brightness) emitted by the lightbulb when the light bulb is powered-on.

In certain embodiments, the tile or an interactive element in the tile,or an interactive area in the graphical interface or the tile, canenable interaction to dynamically adjust one or more settings and/orattributes related to operation of a device corresponding to the tile.In some embodiments, a status of the tile may be dynamically displayedin the tile in response to the interaction. All or some of an appearanceof the tile, an image in the tile, or an interactive element can bemodified to indicate a new state or a change in the setting or theattribute of the device. In some embodiments, an appearance of the tile,an image in the tile, or an interactive element can be modifiedcorresponding to a gradual change in a state or an attribute/setting ofthe device until a desired state or value of an attribute/setting isreached. For example, a light bulb shown in the tile may be modified toinclude an animation, color, sound, information, etc. to indicate achange in the setting. In some embodiments, the light bulb may bedisplayed as being filled, dimmed, or brightened by an amountcorresponding to the adjusted setting (e.g., brightness). In someembodiments, interaction with the graphical interface (e.g., a motion ora swipe of a finger on a display) can cause adjustment to be made for anattribute related to operation of the device.

In some embodiments, the tile can include or cause additional visualinterfaces (e.g., menus or drawers) to be displayed within the graphicalinterface. The visual interfaces can enable control of settings and/orattributes related to operation of a device (or multiple devices in agroup) corresponding to the tile. For example, a tile can include adrawer that displays options for secondary functionalities in responseto a selection made for a primary functionality (e.g., controlling apower state) for a device. In certain embodiments, the drawer candisplay secondary settings, including a default, implied secondarysetting for a device, wherein the implied secondary setting is tied to asetting selected for a primary function. The secondary settings canaffect the operation of the device and can be related to schedulingoperation of the device (i.e., setting on/off times), selecting auto offtimeouts or thresholds, selecting settings for putting the device into astandby, hibernate, or sleep mode, and/or controlling adjustablefeatures (e.g., lighting or speed). By enabling a user to controlfeatures and secondary settings of a device, a user is enabled with theability to remotely control multiple features for several deviceswithout being present at a location of those devices.

In certain embodiments, an updated status including the adjustment to asetting can be transmitted to the wireless network that include thedevice being adjusted. In the case when the computing device and thedevice affected by the adjustment are within the wireless network, theupdated status can be received directly from the computing device. Upondetermining that the computing device is remote, therefore, not locatedwithin the network, the updated status can be transmitted to the cloudnetwork. The cloud network can store the updated status and communicatethe updated status to the device.

In some embodiments, the graphical interface can be modified to indicatea change to a setting or an attribute (e.g., a desired setting) based onan adjustment from interaction with the interactive area. For example, astatus of the tile may be dynamically displayed in the tile in responseto the interaction. All or some of an appearance of the tile, an imagein the tile, or an interactive element can be modified to indicate a newstate or a change in the setting or the attribute of the device. In someembodiments, an appearance of the tile, an image in the tile, or aninteractive element can be modified corresponding to a gradual change ina state or an attribute/setting of the device until a desired state orvalue of an attribute/setting is reached. In some embodiments, amodification to the graphical interface may be shown before the devicehas in fact been adjusted corresponding to the input from interactionwith the interactive area. In some embodiments, the graphical interfacemay be further modified upon receiving a response (e.g., confirmation)that the device has been adjusted according to an adjustment based oninteraction with the interactive area. The graphical interface may befurther modified to indicate that the device has actually been adjustedbased on the input from. For example, the graphical interface may befurther modified to change an appearance of the device in the tile toindicate its adjusted state. The response can be received directly fromthe device or via the network, or the response can be received from anyother device connected to the network.

According to at least one example, techniques may be provided that canbe implemented by a computing device (e.g., an access device). Thetechniques can include a computer-implemented method, which includesdetermining that a device is connected to a network. The method furtherincludes determining a current value of a setting related to operationof the device. The setting is adjustable between a plurality of values.The method includes generating a graphical interface. The graphicalinterface includes an interactive area corresponding to the device. Thegraphical interface indicates the current value of the setting.Interaction with the interactive area adjusts the current value of thesetting. The method includes displaying the graphical interface. Themethod includes receiving input corresponding to an interaction with theinteractive area. The input corresponds to an adjustment that indicatesan amount to change the setting from the current value to an adjustedvalue. The method includes transmitting the adjustment. The operation ofthe device is controlled based on the transmitted adjustment. The methodincludes modifying the graphical interface based on the adjustment. Themodified graphical interface indicates the adjusted value of thesetting.

In some embodiments, a computing device may be provided that includesone or more data processors. The computing device may further include anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructionswhich when executed on the one or more data processors, cause the one ormore processors to perform operations including determining that adevice is connected to a network. The operations further includedetermining a current value of a setting related to operation of thedevice. The setting is adjustable between a plurality of values. Theoperations include generating a graphical interface. The graphicalinterface includes an interactive area corresponding to the device. Thegraphical interface indicates the current value of the setting.Interaction with the interactive area adjusts the current value of thesetting. The operations include displaying the graphical interface. Theoperations include receiving input corresponding to an interaction withthe interactive area. The input corresponds to an adjustment thatindicates an amount to change the setting from the current value to anadjusted value. The operations include transmitting the adjustment. Theoperation of the device is controlled based on the transmittedadjustment. The operations include modifying the graphical interfacebased on the adjustment. The modified graphical interface indicates theadjusted value of the setting.

In some embodiments, a computer-program product tangibly embodied in anon-transitory machine-readable storage medium of a computing device maybe provided. The computer-program product may include instructionsconfigured to cause one or more data processors to determine that adevice is connected to a network. The instructions are furtherconfigured to cause the one or more data processors to determine acurrent value of a setting related to operation of the device. Thesetting is adjustable between a plurality of values. The instructionsare further configured to cause the one or more data processors togenerate a graphical interface. The graphical interface includes aninteractive area corresponding to the device. The graphical interfaceindicates the current value of the setting. Interaction with theinteractive area adjusts the current value of the setting. Theinstructions are further configured to cause the one or more dataprocessors to display the graphical interface. The instructions arefurther configured to cause the one or more data processors to receiveinput corresponding to an interaction with the interactive area. Theinput corresponds to an adjustment that indicates an amount to changethe setting from the current value to an adjusted value. Theinstructions are further configured to cause the one or more dataprocessors to transmit the adjustment. The operation of the device iscontrolled based on the transmitted adjustment. The instructions arefurther configured to cause the one or more data processors to modifythe graphical interface based on the adjustment. The modified graphicalinterface indicates the adjusted value of the setting.

This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features ofthe claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolationto determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject mattershould be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entirespecification of this patent, any or all drawings, and each claim.

The foregoing, together with other features and embodiments, will becomemore apparent upon referring to the following specification, claims, andaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Illustrative embodiments of the present invention are described indetail below with reference to the following drawing figures:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example of a wireless networkenvironment according to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a process for providing a visual interfacemodule for controlling a device in a wireless network according to someembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a wireless network according to someembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a wireless network according to someembodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 5-11 depict examples of displays for controlling a deviceconnected to a network in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a process for controlling attributesand settings related to operation of a device in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an illustration of an example of a front view of a networkdevice in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an illustration of an example of a side view of a networkdevice in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an example of a block diagram of a network device, inaccordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an access device,in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a server, inaccordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding ofembodiments of the invention. However, it will be apparent that variousembodiments may be practiced without these specific details. The figuresand description are not intended to be restrictive.

The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only, and is notintended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of thedisclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodimentswill provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description forimplementing an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood thatvarious changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elementswithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as setforth in the appended claims.

Specific details are given in the following description to provide athorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will beunderstood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments maybe practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits,systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown ascomponents in block diagram form in order not to obscure the embodimentsin unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits,processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown withoutunnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.

Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be described as aprocess which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flowdiagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchartmay describe the operations as a sequential process, many of theoperations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition,the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminatedwhen its operations are completed, but could have additional steps notincluded in a figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function,a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process correspondsto a function, its termination can correspond to a return of thefunction to the calling function or the main function.

The term “machine-readable storage medium” includes, but is not limitedto, portable or non-portable storage devices, optical storage devices,and various other mediums capable of storing, containing, or carryinginstruction(s) and/or data. A machine-readable medium may include anon-transitory medium in which data can be stored and that does notinclude carrier waves and/or transitory electronic signals propagatingwirelessly or over wired connections. Examples of a non-transitorymedium may include, but are not limited to, a magnetic disk or tape,optical storage media such as compact disk (CD) or digital versatiledisk (DVD), flash memory, memory or memory devices. A computer-programproduct may include code and/or machine-executable instructions that mayrepresent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, asubroutine, a module, a software package, a class, or any combination ofinstructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment maybe coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passingand/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memorycontents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed,forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memorysharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.

Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software,firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or anycombination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middlewareor microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessarytasks (e.g., a computer-program product) may be stored in amachine-readable medium. A processor(s) may perform the necessary tasks.

Systems depicted in some of the figures may be provided in variousconfigurations. In some embodiments, the systems may be configured as adistributed system where one or more components of the system aredistributed across one or more networks in a cloud computing system.

A local area network may be set up to provide a user with access tovarious devices within the network. For example, a home automationnetwork may include one or more network devices that provide a user withthe ability to remotely configure or control one or more eletronicdevices (e.g., appliances) within a home. In some embodiments, thenetwork devices may provide the user with the ability to remotelyconfigure and control electronic devices in environments that cansupport a local area network. For example, the environments can includea home, an office, a business, or an automobile. The local area networkmay include one or more gateways that provide the user with access tothe network devices. The one or more gateways may also provide the userand the network devices with access to one or more external networks,such as a cloud network, the Internet, and/or other wide area networks.One or more gateways in the local area network may be designated as aprimary gateway that provides the local area network with access to anexternal network.

A local area network, such as a user's home local area network, caninclude multiple network devices that provide various functionalities.Network devices may be accessed and controlled using an access deviceand/or network gateways. The local area network can also extend outsidethe user's home and include network devices located outside the user'shome. For instance, the local area network can include network devicessuch as exterior motion sensors, exterior lighting (i.e., porch lights,walkway lights, security lights, and the like), garage door openers,sprinkler systems, and other network devices that are exterior to theuser's dwelling. It is desirable for a user to be able to access thenetwork devices while located within the local area network and alsowhile located remotely from the local area network. For example, a usermay access the network devices using an access device within the localarea network or remotely from the local area network.

When a computing device, such as an access device, is used to access thelocal area network, the user may wish to be able to remotely controland/or configure the appliances connected to the network. It isdesirable for a user to be able to control attributes related tooperation of those devices regardless of whether the computing device islocated within the local area network and is located remotely from thelocal area network. As explained herein, techniques are provided thatenable a computing device to provide an interface (e.g., a graphicalinterface) that can enable one or more attributes and/or settingsrelated to operation of a device on a local area network to be monitoredand controlled. The techniques can enable a user of the access device tocontrol operation of devices within a local area network without havingto directly interact with the device itself.

In some embodiments, a computing device may initially determine thedevices that are connected to a network. The determination may be madebased on whether the computing device located within the wirelessnetwork of the devices or located remote from the wireless network. Thecomputing device may have access to the wireless network based on itsauthentication with a logical network which enables access to thewireless network. In some embodiments, the computing device may performlocal network discovery while within the wireless network to identifythe devices connected to the network. Upon determining that thecomputing device is not located within the network, the computing devicecan determine the devices on the network by communicating with a cloudnetwork to obtain information about devices on the network. The cloudnetwork can store a status of devices on the network. The computingdevice can also determine devices on the network by accessing a localcache that can contain information it has previously received aboutdevices known to exist on the network. The computing device candetermine a status of the devices based on its local cache, informationreceived from the cloud, or by direct communication with the deviceswithin the local network. The computing device can access statusinformation from the local cache to present in a display to a user.

In some embodiments, the computing device can execute an applicationthat can cause the computing device to present the graphical interfacecontaining information (e.g., status) about devices discovered in thenetwork. The graphical interface can present a visual interface for eachdevice accessible on the network. In some embodiments, the visualinterface corresponding to a device can be rendered as a modular tilewith one or more interactive elements or one or more interactive areasto control operation of the device. The visual interface correspondingto a device can provide a status of the device. These basic propertiescan include, for example, a default icon, a default name, interactiveelements, and/or interactive areas for controlling one or morefunctionalities of a device. The functionalities can include, forexample, powering the network device on and off. The functionalities canenable adjustment of adjustable attributes and/or settings for a device.For example, a device can be a light bulb, for which attributes orsettings can be controlled via the tile.

In certain embodiments, the status or state of a device can be indicatedin the graphical interface, such as within the tile, with text and/orgraphically. The status of the device can change based on time (e.g., aperiod, an interval, or other time schedule). The status of a device maybe any piece of information pertinent to that particular device. Thestatus of a device may be any adjustable of changeable variable,attribute, or setting related to operation of that particular device.For example, the status of a device may include a state of the deviceitself (e.g., on or off). In certain embodiments, the status can includea value or other criteria for a setting or an attribute related tooperation of a device. The setting or the attribute can be within arange of values. For example, the device can be a light bulb and thestatus can include a value corresponding to an amount of brightness(e.g., a percentage of total brightness) emitted by the light bulb whenthe light bulb is powered-on.

In certain embodiments, the tile or an interactive element in the tile,or an interactive area in the graphical interface or the tile, canenable interaction to dynamically adjust one or more settings and/orattributes related to operation of a device corresponding to the tile.In some embodiments, a status of the tile may be dynamically displayedin the tile in response to the interaction. All or some of an appearanceof the tile, an image in the tile, or an interactive element can bemodified to indicate a new state or a change in the setting or theattribute of the device. In some embodiments, an appearance of the tile,an image in the tile, or an interactive element can be modifiedcorresponding to a gradual change in a state or an attribute/setting ofthe device until a desired state or value of an attribute/setting isreached. For example, a light bulb shown in the tile may be modified toinclude an animation, color, sound, information, etc. to indicate achange in the setting. In some embodiments, the light bulb may bedisplayed as being filled, dimmed, or brightened by an amountcorresponding to the adjusted setting (e.g., brightness). In someembodiments, interaction with the graphical interface (e.g., a motion ora swipe of a finger on a display) can cause adjustment to be made for anattribute related to operation of the device.

In some embodiments, the tile can include or cause additional visualinterfaces (e.g., menus or drawers) to be displayed within the graphicalinterface. The visual interfaces can enable control of settings and/orattributes related to operation of a device (or multiple devices in agroup) corresponding to the tile. For example, a tile can include adrawer that displays options for secondary functionalities in responseto a selection made for a primary functionality (e.g., controlling apower state) for a device. In certain embodiments, the drawer candisplay secondary settings, including a default, implied secondarysetting for a device, wherein the implied secondary setting is tied to asetting selected for a primary function. The secondary settings canaffect the operation of the device and can be related to schedulingoperation of the device (i.e., setting on/off times), selecting auto offtimeouts or thresholds, selecting settings for putting the device into astandby, hibernate, or sleep mode, and/or controlling adjustablefeatures (e.g., lighting or speed). By enabling a user to controlfeatures and secondary settings of a device, a user is enabled with theability to remotely control multiple features for several deviceswithout being present at a location of those devices.

In certain embodiments, an updated status including the adjustment of asetting can be transmitted to the wireless network that includes thedevice being adjusted. In the case when the computing device and thedevice affected by the adjustment are within the wireless network, theupdated status can be received directly from the computing device. Upondetermining that the computing device is remote (e.g., not locatedwithin the network), the updated status can be transmitted to the cloudnetwork. The cloud network can then store the updated status andcommunicate the updated status to the device.

In some embodiments, the graphical interface can be modified to indicatea change to a setting or an attribute (e.g., a desired setting) based onan adjustment from interaction with the interactive area. For example, astatus of the tile may be dynamically displayed in the tile in responseto the interaction. All or some of an appearance of the tile, an imagein the tile, or an interactive element can be modified to indicate a newstate or a change in the setting or the attribute of the device. In someembodiments, an appearance of the tile, an image in the tile, or aninteractive element can be modified corresponding to a gradual change ina state or an attribute/setting of the device until a desired state orvalue of an attribute/setting is reached. In some embodiments, amodification to the graphical interface may be shown before the devicehas in fact been adjusted corresponding to the input from interactionwith the interactive area. In some embodiments, the graphical interfacemay be further modified upon receiving a response (e.g., confirmation)that the device has been adjusted according to an adjustment based oninteraction with the interactive area. The graphical interface may befurther modified to indicate that the device has actually been adjustedbased on the input from interaction with the interactive area. Forexample, the graphical interface may be further modified to change anappearance of the device in the tile to indicate its adjusted state. Theresponse can be received directly from the device or via the network, orthe response can be received from any other device connected to thenetwork.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless local area network 100. Thelocal area network 100 includes a network device 102, a network device104, and network device 106. In some embodiments, the network devices102, 104, 106 may include home automation network devices that allow auser to access, control, and/or configure various home applianceslocated within the user's home, such as a television, radio, light, afan, a humidifier, a sensor, microwave, iron, and/or the like. Forexample, network device 102 may include a home automation switch thatmay be coupled with a home appliance. In some embodiments, networkdevices such as a home automation network device may be used in otherenvironments, such as a business, a school, an establishment, or anyplace that can support the local area network 100 to enablecommunication with network devices. For example, a network device canallow a user to access, control, and/or configure devices includingoffice-related devices (e.g., copy machine, printer, fax machine, thelike), audio-related devices (e.g., a receiver, a speaker, the like),media-playback devices (e.g., a compact disc player, a CD player, thelike), video-related devices (e.g., a projector, a DVD player, thelike), computing devices (e.g., a home computer, a laptop computer, atablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a computing device, awearable device, the like), lighting devices (e.g., a lamp), devicesassociated with a security system, devices associated with an alarmsystem, and devices that can be operated in an automobile (e.g., radiodevices, navigation devices).

A user may communicate with the network devices 102, 104, 106 using anaccess device 108. The access device 108 may include anyhuman-to-machine interface with network connection capability thatallows access to a network. For example, the access device 108 mayinclude a stand alone interface (e.g., a cellular telephone, asmartphone, a home computer, a laptop computer, a tablet, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a computing device, a wearable device such as asmart watch, a wall panel, a keypad, or the like), an interface that isbuilt into an appliance or other device (e.g., television, refrigerator,security system, game console, browser, or the like), a speech orgesture interface (e.g., Kinect™ sensor, Wiimote™, or the like), aninternet of things (IoT) device interface (e.g., an Internet enabledappliance such as a wall switch, a control interface, or the like).While only a single access device 108 is shown in FIG. 1, one ofordinary skill in the art will appreciate that multiple access devicesmay connect with the network devices 102, 104, 106. The user mayinteract with the network devices 102, 104, or 106 using an application,a web browser, a proprietary program, or any other program executed andoperated by the access device 108. In some embodiments, the accessdevice 108 may communicate directly with the network devices 102, 104,106 (e.g., communication signal 116). In some embodiments, the accessdevice 108 may communicate with the network devices 102, 104, 106 viathe gateways 110, 112 (e.g., communication signal 118) and/or the cloudnetwork 114 (e.g., communication signal 120).

The local area network 100 may include a wireless network, a wirednetwork, or a combination of a wired and wireless network. A wirelessnetwork may include any wireless interface or combination of wirelessinterfaces (e.g., Zigbee™, Bluetooth™, WiFi™, IR, cellular, LTE, WiMax™,or the like). A wired network may include any wired interface (e.g.,fiber, ethernet, powerline ethernet, ethernet over coaxial cable,digital signal line (DSL), or the like). The wired and/or wirelessnetworks may be implemented using various routers, access points,bridges, gateways, or the like, to connect devices in the local areanetwork 100. For example, the local area network may include gateway 110and gateway 112. Gateway 110 or 112 can be utilized for providingcommunication capabilities to network devices 102, 104, 106 and/oraccess device 108 via radio signals in order to provide communication,location, and/or other services to the devices. While two gateways 110and 112 are shown in FIG. 1, one of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that any number of gateways may be present within the localarea network 100. The network access provided by gateway 110 and gateway112 may be of any type of network familiar to those skilled in the artthat can support data communications using any of a variety ofcommercially-available protocols. For example, gateways 110, 112 mayprovide wireless communication capabilities for the local area network100 using particular communications protocols, such as WiFi™ (e.g., IEEE802.11 family standards, or other wireless communication technologies,or any combination thereof). Using the communications protocol(s), thegateways 110, 112 may transmit and receive radio frequencies with whichwireless enabled devices in local area network 100 can communicate. Agateway may also be referred to as a base station, an access point, NodeB, Evolved Node B (eNodeB), access point base station, a Femtocell, homebase station, home Node B, home eNodeB, or the like. The gateways 110,112 may include a router, a modem, a range extender, and/or any otherdevice that provides network access among one or more computing devicesand/or external networks. For example, gateway 110 may include a routerand gateway 112 may include a range extender.

The gateways 110 and 112 may also provide the access device 108 and thenetwork devices 102, 104, 106 with access to one or more externalnetworks, such as the cloud network 114, the Internet, and/or other widearea networks. The cloud network 114 may include a cloud infrastructuresystem that provides cloud services. In certain embodiments, servicesprovided by the cloud network 114 may include a host of services thatare made available to users of the cloud infrastructure system ondemand, such as registration and access control of network devices 102,104, 106. Services provided by the cloud infrastructure system candynamically scale to meet the needs of its users. The cloud network 114may comprise one or more computers, servers, and/or systems. In someembodiments, the computers, servers, and/or systems that make up thecloud network 114 are different from the user's own on-premisescomputers, servers, and/or systems. For example, the cloud network 114may host an application, and a user may, via a communication networksuch as the Internet, on demand, order and use the application.

In some embodiments, the cloud network 114 may host a Network AddressTranslation (NAT) Traversal application in order to establish a secureconnection between the cloud network 114 and one or more of the networkdevices 102, 104, 106. For example, a separate secure TransmissionControl Protocol (TCP) connection may be established by each networkdevice 102, 104, 106 for communicating between each network device 102,104, 106 and the cloud network 114. In some embodiments, each secureconnection may be kept open for an indefinite period of time so that thecloud network 114 can initiate communications with each respectivenetwork device 102, 104, or 106 at any time. In some cases, other typesof communications between the cloud network 114 and the network devices102, 104, 106 and/or the access device 108 may be supported using othertypes of communication protocols, such as a Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP) protocol, a Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) protocol,or the like. In some embodiments, communications initiated by the cloudnetwork 114 may be conducted over the TCP connection, and communicationsinitiated by a network device may be conducted over a HTTP or HTTPSconnection. In certain embodiments, the cloud network 114 may include asuite of applications, middleware, and database service offerings thatare delivered to a customer in a self-service, subscription-based,elastically scalable, reliable, highly available, and secure manner.

It should be appreciated that the local area network 100 may have othercomponents than those depicted. Further, the embodiment shown in thefigure is only one example of a local area network that may incorporatean embodiment of the invention. In some other embodiments, local areanetwork 100 may have more or fewer components than shown in the figure,may combine two or more components, or may have a differentconfiguration or arrangement of components.

Upon being powered on or reset, the network devices 102, 104, 106 may beregistered with the cloud network 114 and associated with a logicalnetwork within the local area network 100. When multiple network devices102, 104, 106 and gateways 110, 112 are included within a local areanetwork, the network devices and/or gateways may be installed atdifferent points in time. For example, a user may install network device102 at a first point in time on a first floor of the user's house.Gateway 110 may also be located on the first floor, resulting in thenetwork device 102 pairing with gateway 110. The user may later installgateway 112 and network device 106 on a second floor of the user's home,resulting in the network device 106 pairing with gateway 112.

A network device may detect one or more gateways upon being powered onor reset. In some embodiments, a provisioning process may occur when thenetwork device is powered on or reset and detected by an access device.During the provisioning process, the access device may directlycommunicate with the network device. In some embodiments, directcommunication between network devices 102, 104, 106 and access device108 may occur using various communications protocols, such as UniversalPlug and Play (UPnP), Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, Ultra-Wideband (UWB),WiFi-Direct, WiFi, Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE), sound frequencies,and/or the like.

The provisioning process may include pairing the network device with agateway and registering the gateway, network device, and access devicewith a server, such as a server located within the cloud network 114.For example, upon being powered on or reset to factory settings, thenetwork device may send or broadcast identification information to oneor more access devices. The identification information may be sentduring a discovery process. For example, the identification informationmay be sent in response to a discovery request from an access device. Insome cases, the identification information may include a name of thenetwork device.

An application, program, or the like that is installed on and executedby the access device may receive the identification information from thenetwork device. When the application on the access device is launched bya user, the access device may display the identification information forselection by the user. Once the network device identificationinformation is selected, the access device may send a signal to thenetwork device indicating that it has been selected. The network devicemay then send to the access device a list of gateways that are detectedby the network device. The access device may receive and display thelist of gateways. In some embodiments, the list of gateways includesmultiple gateways (e.g., gateways 110 and 112) that are located withinthe local area network. The user may select the gateway that the userwishes for the network device to pair. For example, the gateway thatprovides the best signal strength for the network device may beselected. The access device may then prompt the user to enter logininformation that is required for accessing the network signals providedby the gateway. For example, the login information may be the sameinformation that was originally set up to access the gateway networksignals (e.g., when the gateway was initially installed). The accessdevice may send the login information to the network device. The networkdevice may use the login information to pair with the selected gateway.As one example, network device 102 and network device 104 may be pairedwith gateway 110, and network device 106 may be paired with gateway 112.

Once paired with a gateway, the network device may be registered with acloud network (e.g., cloud network 214). For example, the access device(e.g., via the application, program, or the like) may instruct thenetwork device to register with the cloud network upon receivingconfirmation from the network device that it has been successfullypaired with a gateway.

A network device may obtain credentials from a gateway as part of theregistration process. For example, network device 102 may obtaincredentials from gateway 110. At a same or later point in time, networkdevices 104 and 106 may obtain credentials from gateways 110 and 112,respectively. In some embodiments, the credentials may include a SSID ofthe wireless local area network and a MAC address of the gateway. AnSSID received from two gateways (e.g., gateways 110, 112) may be thesame due to the gateways both being within the same local area network.In some cases, the SSID of the two gateways may be different. The MACaddress of each of the gateways may be unique to each gateway. As aresult of each gateway having a unique MAC address, the credentialsobtained from a gateway may be unique to that particular gateway. One ofordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other credentials may beobtained from a gateway, such as an Internet Protocol address, or thelike.

A network device may then send the credentials (e.g., gatewaycredentials) to the cloud network. For example, the network devices 102,104, 106 may send credentials for the gateway with which they are pairedto the server located within the cloud network 114. For example, networkdevice 102 may transmit the credentials obtained from gateway 110 to theserver, and network device 106 may transmit the credentials obtainedfrom gateway 112 to the server. In some embodiments, the network devicemay also send other information relating to the network device (e.g.,MAC address, serial number, make, model number, firmware version, and/oran interface module identifier, or the like) to the server and/orinformation relating to the access device (e.g., MAC address, serialnumber, application unique identifier, or the like) to the server. Insome embodiments, the communication of the credentials and the otherinformation from the network device to the cloud network server may be aHypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure(HTTPS) communication, a secure Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)communication, or the like. One of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that other communication mechanisms may be used tocommunicate between the network device and the cloud network server.

Once the credentials are received by the server, the server may registereach gateway as a logical network within the local area network and maygenerate a network ID for each logical network. For example, the servermay register the gateway 110 as a first logical network. During theregistration process, the server may generate a first network ID foridentifying the first logical network. As noted above, one of ordinaryskill in the art will appreciate that any number of gateways may bepresent within the local area network, and thus that any number oflogical networks may be registered for the local area network. Theserver may further generate a first set of security keys forauthenticating the network device and the access device. For example,the server may generate a unique key for the network device 102 and aseparate unique key for the access device 108.

Once the unique IDs are received by the server, the server may registereach network device and determine a visual interface module for eachnetwork device. For example, the server may register the network device102 as a first network device. During the registration process, theserver may determine or generate a first interface module ID foridentifying a visual interface module suitable for controlling the firstnetwork device. As noted above, one of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that any number of network devices may be present within thelocal area network, and thus that any number of network devices may bediscovered and registered for the local area network.

In some embodiments, a modular visual interface framework may beutilized to dynamically and implicitly provide visual interface modulesto an access device 108 so that the access device 108 can be used tocontrol network devices within a network without having to install a newapplication or a version of an application for each network device. Thevisual interface modules can enable a user of the access device 108 toremotely control network devices within a network without having tophysically interface with the network device. In certain embodiments, anapplication installed on the access device 108 can have a graphicalinterface, and the application can be configured to execute one or morevisual interface modules usable to control respective network devices ina local area network. The visual interface modules, when executed by anapplication, can render a visual interface in the graphical interface toenable control of operation of the network device. In some embodiments,the visual interface module can be specific to a given network device.

The visual interface rendered for a visual interface module can be amodular tile that includes information identifying a respective networkdevice and includes interactive areas or interactive elements forcontrolling and/or monitoring the network device on a network. Thevisual interface can provide information about a status of the networkdevice corresponding to the tile. The status of a network device may beany changeable variable of that particular network device. For example,the status of a network device may include a state of the network deviceitself (e.g., on or off) or how the network device is situated withinthe network with respect to the other network and other devicesthroughout the network. In certain embodiments, the status can include avalue, a state, or other unit of measure corresponding to a setting oran attribute related to operation of a device. The setting or theattribute can be adjustable within a range of values or betweendifferent states. For example, the device can be a light bulb and thestatus can include a value corresponding to brightness (e.g., apercentage of total brightness) emitted by the light bulb when the lightbulb is powered-on.

The visual interface can include one or more interactive elements orinteractive areas to control one or more settings and/or attributesrelated to operation of the network device corresponding to the visualinterface. The settings and/or attributes can correspond tofunctionalities or features of the network device. The functionalitiescan include, for example, powering the network device on and off, oradjusting a setting or an attribute of the network device. The visualinterface can be updated to reflect the status of the network devicewith respect to the adjustment of one or more attributes and/orsettings. Operation and implementation of the modular visual interfaceframework is described below with reference to FIG. 2. In particular,FIGS. 5-11 show examples of visual interfaces that enable a user tocontrol attributes and/or settings related to operation of networkdevices controllable via a computing device.

In some embodiments, as previously described, network device 104 mayalso be paired with gateway 110 at the same or a later point in time asthe network device 102. During registration of the network device 104,the server may determine that the access device 108 has already beenregistered with another network device (e.g., network device 102) thatis associated with the same logical network of gateway 110. In suchembodiments, the server may retrieve the first network ID that was usedin registering the first logical network. The server may also generate anew unique security key for the network device 104, and may retrieve theunique key that was previously generated for the access device 108 whenregistering the gateway 110 as the first logical network. Also suchembodiments where the server may determine that the access device 108has already been registered with another network device, the server mayhave used a unique ID for the previously discovered network device 102to determine a first interface module suitable for controlling thenetwork device 102. Further in such embodiments, the server may useanother unique ID for the network device 104 to identify a secondinterface module suitable for controlling network device 104.

The gateway 112 may also be registered by the server as a second logicalnetwork with a second network ID. A second set of security keys may begenerated for the network device 106 and the access device 108. Forexample, the server may generate a unique security key for the networkdevice 106 and a unique security key for the access device 108 as itrelates to the second logical network. In some embodiments, the gatewaymay 112 be installed at a later point in time after the gateway 110 isinstalled, and thus may be registered as the second logical network atthe later point in time.

A record or profile may then be created for associating each network IDwith the credentials of a corresponding gateway, the correspondingnetwork device(s), and the access device. For example, the server of thecloud network 114 may associate the first network ID with thecredentials of gateway 110. Similarly, the server may associate thesecond network ID with the credentials of gateway 112. In someembodiments, the server performs the association by generating andstoring a record including the network ID, the set of security keys, thegateway credentials, the network devices associated with the network ID(e.g., MAC address or serial number of a network device), the accessdevices associated with the network ID (e.g., MAC address, serialnumber, application unique identifier, or the like), and/or any otherinformation relevant to the network devices and/or gateways. Forexample, the server may store the first network ID and the first set ofsecurity keys in a first record at a first memory space (e.g., in Flash,DRAM, a database, or the like) along with the SSID and MAC address forgateway 110 and an identifier of the network devices 102 and/or 104. Theserver may also store the second network ID and the second set ofsecurity keys in a second record at a second memory space along with theSSID and MAC address for gateway 112 and an identifier of the networkdevice 106. In some embodiments, an example of a network deviceidentifier may include a MAC address of the network device, a serialnumber of the network device, or any other unique identifier.

Each of the first and second network IDs may include a unique number oralphanumeric string generated sequentially or randomly. For example, thefirst time a network device and an associated gateway are registered onthe cloud network 114, the unique network ID for the logical network ofthe gateway may start with 7000000. Each subsequent logical network thatis created may be a sequential increment of the initial network ID(e.g., 7000001, 7000002, 7000003, etc.). As another example, the networkID may be generated by a random number generator. One of ordinary skillin the art will appreciate that other techniques for generating a uniqueID may be used. The technique used to generate the network IDs may bedependent on a type of database that is included in the cloud network114. For example, different databases may have different proprietarymechanisms for creating a unique identifier. The set of keys generatedfor each logical network may be generated using database specifictechnique. For example, a MySQL technique may be used to generate thesets of keys. Each key may include a universally unique identifier(UUID) or a globally unique identifier (GUID). As described above, foreach logical network, the server may generate a unique key for a networkdevice and a separate unique key for an access device.

A record or profile may then be created in a data store at the serverfor associating each network device with a corresponding, knowninterface module so that the interface module can be provided to theaccess device. For example, the server of the cloud network 114 mayassociate the first network device 102 with a first interface module.Similarly, the server may associate the second network device 104 with asecond interface module. In some embodiments, the server performs theassociation by generating and storing a record including the unique IDof the network device (e.g., MAC address or serial number of a networkdevice), a unique ID of an interface module suitable to control thenetwork device, and/or any other information relevant to the networkdevice and/or the interface module. For example, the server may store afirst record at a first memory space (e.g., in Flash, DRAM, a datastore, a database, or the like) with the unique ID of the network device102 and the unique ID of an interface module for monitoring andcontrolling the network device 102. The server may also store a secondrecord at a second memory space along with the unique ID of the networkdevice 106 and the unique ID of an interface module for monitoring andcontrolling the network device 106. The technique used to store recordsfor associating each network device with a corresponding interfacemodule may be dependent on a type of database that is included in thecloud network 114. For example, different databases may have differentproprietary mechanisms for creating unique identifiers. The uniqueidentifiers for each interface module may be generated using databasespecific technique. For example, a MySQL technique may be used togenerate the unique IDs for interface modules. Each unique ID forinterface modules may include a universally unique identifier (UUID) ora globally unique identifier (GUID).

The network device may receive the network ID and the set of securitykeys. For example, once the server has generated a record or profileassociating the network device 102 with the first logical network, theserver may transmit the first network ID and the first set of securitykeys to the network device 102. The network device 102 may store thefirst network ID and one or more keys of the first set of keys. Forexample, the network device 102 may store the unique security key thatwas created by the server for the network device 102.

As noted previously, the network devices 102, 104, 106 and gateways 110,112 may be installed at different times. For example, in someembodiments, network device 104 may be installed at a point in timeafter the first logical network is created based on the pairing betweengateway 110 and network device 102. In such embodiments, upon beingpowered on, the network device 104 may pair with gateway 110, obtaincredentials from gateway 110, and transmit the credentials to the serverin the cloud network 114 using similar techniques as those describedabove. The server may associate the network device 104 with thepreviously generated first network ID. As described above, the servermay also generate a new unique security key for the network device 104,and may retrieve the unique key that was previously generated for theaccess device 108 when registering the first logical network. Thenetwork device 104 may then receive and store the first network ID andthe security keys from the server. The server may also associate thenetwork device 104 with a known interface module. The server may alsogenerate a record in a data store of interfaces for the network device104. The access device 108 may receive the interface module forcontrolling the network device 104 from the server, and then store theinterface module in a local cache.

Then, the network device may send the network ID and the set of securitykeys to the access device. For example, the network device 102 may sendto the access device 108 the first network ID and the unique securitykey generated for the access device 108. The network device 102 and theaccess device 108 may then communicate with the cloud network serverusing the first network ID and each device's unique key. In someembodiments, the network device and the access device may generate asignature using their respective security key. The signature is sent tothe cloud network server along with a communication from the networkdevice or access device. The cloud network server may then process thesignature in order to authenticate each device, as described below. Thenetwork device and access device may use different techniques togenerate a signature.

A network device may generate a signature using its uniquely generatedsecurity key. For example, the signature may be expressed as:Authorization=MacAddress“:”Signature“:”ExpirationTime. The Authorizationterm may be an attribute, and the MacAddress, Signature, andExpirationTime terms may include values for the Authorization attribute.In particular, the MacAddress value may include the MAC address of thenetwork device, which may include a unique alphanumeric or numericstring. The network device may retrieve its MAC address from memory andplace it in the MacAddress field. The Signature value may be expressedas: Signature=Base64(HMAC-SHA1(PrivateKey, StringToSign)). The Signaturevalue may include an alphanumeric or numeric string. HMAC-SHA1 is anopen source technique that includes a Hash-based Message AuthenticationCode (HMAC) using a SHA1 hash function. The HMAC-SHA1 technique uses thevalues PrivateKey and StringToSign as inputs. The PrivateKey inputincludes the unique security key that was generated by the server forthe network device. The StringToSign input may be expressed asStringToSign=MacAddress+“\n”+SerialNumber+“\n”+ExpirationTime.Accordingly, the StringToSign input is generated by appending a serialnumber of the network device and an expiration time to the networkdevice's MAC address. The ExpirationTime term may indicate the period oftime for which the signature is valid. In some embodiments, theExpirationTime term may include a current time at which the signature isgenerated plus period of time for which the signature is valid. In oneexample, the ExpirationTime term may be expressed asExpirationTime=Number of seconds since Jan. 1, 1970.

The network device may place the signature in a data packet fortransmission with a communication signal to the cloud network server.The network device may also place the network ID in the data packet. Thesignature and the network ID, if included, may be used by the cloudnetwork server to verify that the network device is associated with thelogical network. In some embodiments, a signature is provided with eachcommunication sent from the network device to the server. Once thesignature is received by the server, the server generates a signatureusing the same expression as that used by the network device. Forexample, the server may retrieve the network device's key and otherrelevant information from storage and generate the signature using thekey and the other information using the expression described above. Theserver then verifies whether the signatures match. Upon determining thatthe signatures match, the server authenticates the network device'scommunication.

An access device may also generate a signature using its uniquelygenerated security key. For example, the access device signature may beexpressed as: Authorization=SDU UniqueId“:”Signature“:”ExpirationTime.The Authorization term may be an attribute, and the SDU UniqueId,Signature, and ExpirationTime terms may include values for theAuthorization attribute. The SDU UniqueId term may include a uniquephone identifier. The SDU UniqueId value may depend on the type ofaccess device that is used and the type of values that may be accessedand/or generated by the type of access device. In some cases, one typeof access device may not allow an application to access a uniqueidentifier of the access device (e.g., a serial number, UUID, or thelike). In such cases, the SDU UniqueId value may include a valuegenerated by an application or program installed on and executed on theaccess device that is used to access the network device. The value maybe unique to the application or program that generated the value. Inother cases, another type of access device may allow an application toaccess a unique identifier of the access device. In such cases, the SDUUniqueId value may include a value that is unique to the access deviceitself, such as a serial number, UUID, or the like. In this example, theaccess device may retrieve the unique value from storage within theaccess device. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate thatother unique identifiers may be used to uniquely identify the accessdevice. The Signature value may be expressed as:Signature=Base64(HMAC-SHA1(PrivateKey, StringToSign)). Using thisexpression, the input to the HMAC-SHA1 technique may include aPrivateKey term and a StringToSign term. The PrivateKey input includesthe unique security key that was generated by the server for the accessdevice with regard to a particular logical network. The StringToSigninput may be expressed as StringToSign=UniqueId+“\n”+“\n”+ExpirationTime. The StringToSign value is different from the StringToSign valuegenerated by network device in that no serial number is included.Accordingly, the StringToSign input is generated by appending anexpiration time to the access device's unique identifier. TheExpirationTime term may indicate the period of time for which thesignature is valid, similar to that above for the signature generated bythe network device.

The access device may place the signature in a data packet and maytransmit the data packet to the cloud network server with acommunication signal. The network device may also place the network IDin the data packet. The signature and the network ID, if included, maybe used by the cloud network server to verify that the access device isassociated with the logical network and authorized to communicate withone or more network devices associated with the logical network. In someembodiments, a signature is provided with each communication sent fromthe access device to the server. The cloud server may receive thesignature and may generate a signature using the same expression as thatused by the access device. For example, the server may retrieve theaccess device's key and other relevant information from storage andgenerate the signature using the key and the other information using theexpression described above. The server then verifies whether thesignatures match. Upon determining that the signatures match, the serverauthenticates the access device and allows it to communicate with one ormore of the network devices associated with logical network.

Once the provisioning process is completed, the access device 108 mayaccess the network device 102 locally via the gateway 110 (e.g.,communication signal 118) or remotely via the cloud network 114 (e.g.,communication signal 120). In some embodiments, the communicationbetween the access device 108 and the cloud network 114 may be a HTTP orHTTPS communication. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciatethat other communication mechanisms may be used to communicate betweenthe access device 108 and the cloud network 114.

As previously described, the access device, when located within range ofthe local area network, may be authenticated using accountlessauthentication that is based on the access device's authentication withthe logical network. For example, if the access device has authorizedaccess to the logical network (e.g., a WiFi network provided by agateway), the network devices paired with that logical network may allowthe access device to connect with them without requiring a networkdevice login. Accordingly, the network device may perform accountlessauthentication of access devices that have authorization to access thelogical network without requiring a user to provide login credentialsfor the network devices. While located remotely, the access device mayalso be authenticated to access the network devices via the cloudnetwork using an accountless authentication process. For example, thenetwork ID and the access device's unique security key may be used toallow the access device to communicate with the network devices via thecloud network (e.g., by generating a signature as described above).

When the access device 108 is located within range of both gateways 110,112 in the local area network 100, the access device 108 does notencounter any issues when attempting to access any of the networkdevices 102, 104, 106. For example, the access device 108 may performUPnP discovery and may list all if the network devices 102, 104, 106that have responded to the discovery request regardless of which networkID the network devices 102, 104, 106 have. Accordingly, the existence ofthe first and second logical networks with first and second network IDsdoes not lead to any issues when the access device 108 is located withinthe local area network 100. However, when the user is located remotely,the access device 108 may only be associated with one logical network ata time. For example, the access device 108, while located remotely fromthe local area network 100, may query the cloud server with a knownnetwork ID (e.g., the first or second network ID). In response, theserver will only return the network devices associated with that networkID. As a result, the user will not be able to see all network deviceswithin the user's local area network 100.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a process 200 for providing a visualinterface module for controlling a network device. As shown, the process200 may be performed by one or more computing devices, such as networkdevice 102, a server associated with cloud network 114, or access device108 described above with reference to FIG. 1. In some embodiments, thenetwork device 102 is associated with a home automation network, such asthe local area network 100 described above with respect to FIG. 1.Process 200 is illustrated as a data flow diagram, the operation ofwhich represents operations that can be implemented in hardware,computer instructions, or a combination thereof. Gateway 110 isconnected to cloud network 114, and allows network device 102 to connectto the cloud network 114, the Internet, or other external networks viagateway 110. In some embodiments, the network device 102 may be a homeautomation network device that allows a user to access, monitor,control, and/or configure various home appliances located within theuser's home, such as a television, radio, light bulb, microwave, iron,fan, space heater, sensor, and/or the like. In some embodiments, theuser can monitor and control network devices by interacting with avisual interface rendered by the gateway 110 (i.e., a web page forgateway 110), a visual interface rendered on display 222 of the accessdevice 108, or a visual interface rendered by the network device 102.

In an embodiment, an application may be run on the access device 108.The application may cause the access device 108 to present a display 222with a modular visual interface for each network device accessible onthe local area network 100. When the application is run on the accessdevice 108, the access device 108 can access a cache 202.

The cache 202 can be a local cache located in onboard storage of theaccess device 108. The cache 202 can contain a known interface list 220with records 224, 226 and 228 including interface information fordifferent, known types of network devices. As shown, each of records224, 226 and 228 can include a device type, a unique interface moduleID, and controls information. The known interface list 220 can include arecord for each device known by the access device 108 to exist on thelocal area network 100. When the application is run on the access device108, the access device 108 can access the known interfaces 220 in thecache 202 to present the display 222, which lists modular interfaces foreach network device on the local area network 100. In an example, thedisplay 222 can include a modular tile for each connected network devicehaving an interface in the known interface list 220. Exemplarycommunications used to populate cache 202 are described in the followingparagraphs.

The process 200 can include utilizing communication 206 to register avisual interface module for a network device 102 with a server of cloudnetwork 114. For simplicity, communication 206 is shown as a directcommunication between network device 102 and cloud network 114. However,it is to be understood that in an embodiment, communication 206 can besent from a manufacturer of network device 102 to cloud network 114. Inan additional or alternative embodiment, communication 206 is sent fromthird party interface developer to cloud network 114. For example, athird party developer of a visual interface module for network device102 may initiate communication 206 to cloud network 114. In the exampleof FIG. 2, communication 206 includes registration information for thenetwork device 102. For example, communication 206 can include a uniquedevice ID for network device 102. In some embodiments, the registrationinformation may identify one or more capabilities of network device 102.The registration information can include a unique identifier for thenetwork device, a default name of the network device, one or morecapabilities of the network device, and one or more discovery mechanismsfor the network device. In one example, communication 206 can include aresource bundle corresponding to network device 102. The resource bundlecan be embodied as a structured folder structure whose contents defineall visual and interactive elements/areas in a tile. For example, aresource bundle can be a zip file sent from a device manufacturer or athird party developer that is submitted or uploaded to cloud network114. The resource bundle includes a unique device ID and files defininggraphical content of a visual interface module. The graphical contentcan include definitions of interactive elements/areas for the interfacemodule. The resource bundle can include templates defining interactivecontrol states for each of the interactive elements, languagetranslations for tile text, any menus for the tile, and graphicalcontent of the menus. For example, the resource bundle can definetemplates, text, and graphical content using a markup language, such asHTML5.

At 206, the process 200 includes transmitting an indication that networkdevice 102 is associated with the network. For example, network device102 may transmit the indication to the server of the cloud network 114.In some embodiments, transmitting may include transmitting a uniqueidentifier (ID) for the network device 102. For example, the networkdevice 102 may send a communication to the server indicating a uniqueinterface module ID for the network device 102. In such embodiments, theserver may then determine that a match between the unique interfacemodule ID and a known interface exists. The cloud network 114 caninclude a data store 204 of known interfaces. The access device 108 candownload a visual interface module identified in data store 204 from thecloud network 114, which can be used to render a modular interfacewithin display 222. In an embodiment, data store 204 can be a tiledatabase where each record in the database is uniquely identified by atile ID.

Cloud network 114 can use the unique device ID to determine an interfacemodule for network device 102. As shown in FIG. 2, cloud network 114 canaccess a data store 204 of visual interface modules. A plurality ofuniquely identified interface modules can be stored in data store 204.For example, each interface module in data store 204 can be associatedwith a unique interface module ID. In an embodiment, data store 204 is adatabase configured to store modular tiles for a plurality of networkdevices, with each of the stored modular tiles being identified by aunique tile ID. For instance, the network device 102 having a uniquedevice identifier may be matched with an existing interface module basedon comparing information received from the network device 102 withinformation stored in data store 204. In cases where an existinginterface module for network device 102 is not found in data store 204,cloud network 114 can use information in a resource bundle for thenetwork device 102 to generate an interface module, where the resourcebundle is provided as part of a registration process for a given networkdevice. The generated interface module can then be stored in data store204 and assigned a unique interface module ID. In some embodiments,information in the resource bundle can be used to update an existinginterface module stored in data store 204. After determining theinterface module for network device 102, cloud network 114 sendscommunication 208 to network device 102 in order to provide a uniqueinterface module ID to the network device 102. In one embodiment,communication 208 can include a unique tile ID corresponding to amodular tile for network device 102 that is stored in data store 204. Insome embodiments, communication 208 includes a unique tile IDcorresponding to a modular tile defined for network device 102. Uponreceiving communication 208 with the unique interface module ID (i.e., aunique tile ID), the network device 102 can store the unique interfacemodule ID. In one embodiment, for example, the unique interface moduleID can be stored by an interface device 201 of the network device 102that is configured to provide the interface module ID to an accessdevice or gateway. In an embodiment, the interface device 201 isimplemented as a ‘smart module’ in hardware and firmware, such as, forexample, a system on a chip (SOC) integrated into the network device102.

The interface device 201 can include flash memory and dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM). The flash memory may be used to store instructionsor code relating to an operating system, one or more applications, andany firmware. The flash memory may include nonvolatile memory so thatany firmware or other program can be can updated. In the event theinterface device 201 loses power, information stored in the flash memorymay be retained. The DRAM of the interface device 201 may store variousother types of information needed to run the interface device 201, suchas all runtime instructions or code. The flash memory or DRAM or acombination thereof may include all instructions necessary tocommunicate with network device 102.

The process 200 can include sending, from the access device 108,intra-network communication 210 including a query, to the network device102. The query can be a request for information such as a query forcapabilities, a request for an identity of the network device 102,and/or a request for a unique interface module ID. For example,communication 210 can be sent from access device 108 to network device102 to query network device 102 about its identity. In response to thequery sent from access device 108, the process 200 can include receivingintra-network communication 212 at the access device 108 with deviceinformation for the network device 102. According to an embodiment, inresponse to the query, the network device 102 can send communication 212to inform the access device 108 of the identity and/or capabilities ofthe network device 102. For instance, in response to receiving thequery, the network device 102 may send communications 212 to the accessdevice 108 with at least a unique interface module ID. The process 200can include utilizing intra-network device communications 210 and 212 aspart of a discovery process for the network device 102. For example,when the network device 102 is initially connected to the network, itand access device 108 can automatically exchange communications 210 and212 to provide the access device 108 with information that can be usedto determine a basic, default visual interface stored in cache 202.

Within the context of a modular tile framework, embodiments candynamically render a functional user interface without having todownload the appropriate interface template from a remote server, suchas a server associated with the cloud network 114, in order to control anewly discovered network device. These embodiments can be used in caseswhere a connection to the Internet or the cloud network 114 isunavailable or unreliable, and immediate use of a newly discoverednetwork device is desired. In this case, an application on the accessdevice 108 or a stationary device such as gateway 110 could, based oncertain information received from the network device 102, dynamicallyrender a functional interface for immediate use. Such a functionalinterface may not be the ideal, visually optimized, interface that isdownloadable from the cloud network 114. However, such a functionalinterface will suffice until the application is able connect to theInternet and/or the cloud network 114 and subsequently download theappropriate and visually optimized interface module for the networkdevice 102.

In some embodiments, communication 212 may be received when the networkdevice 102 is rebooted (e.g., powered on, reset or restored to defaultsettings, or the like). For example, when the network device 102 isrebooted, it may broadcast one or more messages on the local areanetwork 100 to discover whether there are any access devices in thelocal area network 100. For example, communication 212 may be broadcastaccording to a UPnP protocol during a discovery process. The networkdevice 102 may receive communications 210 from access device 108indicating that it is located within the local area network 100 andinterrogating network device 102 about its functionalities. That is,after receiving a broadcast message from network device 102, accessdevice 108 may then query network device 102 by sending communication210 in order to receive the communication 212 including informationabout the network device.

After receiving communication 212, if the access device 108 can accessthe cloud network 114, it sends a communication 214 to the cloud network114 as a request for an interface module for the network device 102.Communication 214 is described in further detail below. Otherwise, ifthe access device 108 cannot access the cloud network 114, the accessdevice 108 looks up the unique interface module ID received from thenetwork device 102 in cache 202. As discussed above, cache 202 can be alocal cache stored on the access device 108. Basic properties for knowninterfaces can be stored in cache 202 as a device type and controlsinformation. These basic properties can include, for example, a defaulticon, a default name, and interactive elements or interactive areas forcontrolling one or more primary functionalities of a network device. Theprimary functionalities can include, for example, powering the networkdevice on and off. The basic properties can also include controlsinformation for secondary functionalities.

In some embodiments, when the access device is connected to the cloudnetwork 114, the access device 108 sends communication 214 to query thecloud network 114 about network device 102. The communication 214 caninclude at least the unique interface module ID for the network device102. At this point, the cloud network 114 can compare the uniqueinterface module ID of the network device 102 to known interface moduleIDs stored in data store 204 in order to determine that there is a matchbetween the unique interface module ID sent with communication 214 and aknown interface module. If the cloud network 114 finds an interfacemodule in its data store 204, it transmits the interface module to theaccess device 108 via communication 216. For example, if the accessdevice 108 is currently using a default interface module for networkdevice 102 that was determined based on exchanging communications 210and 212, and then subsequently is able to connect to the cloud network114, communications 214 and 216 between the access device 108 and thecloud network 114 can be used to obtain an updated interface module forthe network device 102.

Upon receiving communication 216 from the cloud network 114, the accessdevice 108 populates a record in cache 202 corresponding to the networkdevice 102 with device type and controls information received viacommunication 216. That is, when the access device is remote from thelocal area network 100, it can exchange communications 214 and 216 withthe cloud network 114 to receive an interface module for a networkdevice. Information received via communications 216 can be used topopulate records of cache 202. Records in cache 202 can be updated usingmodular interfaces received via communication 216. In additional oralternative embodiments, new records can be created in cache 202 whencommunication 216 includes a modular interface for a newly discoverednetwork device.

Records 224, 226, 228 in cache 202 store device types, unique interfacemodule IDs, and controls information for known network devices. Theaccess device 108 uses the records in cache 202 to render visualinterfaces in the display 222. For example, the display 222 can includea navigable list of modular tiles corresponding to network devices inthe local area network 100.

Display 222 can also include an indicator representing a state ofnetwork device 102. In embodiments, communications 212 and/or 214 caninclude a last known state of the network device 102 and/or historicaldata associated with the network device 102. In one embodiment, suchstate information can be based on information received via communication212 from the network device 102 when the access device 108 is connectedto the local area network 100. In this way, display 222 of the accessdevice 108 can reflect a current state and historical data for thenetwork device 102 when the access device is not connected to the localarea network 100. In additional or alternative embodiments, the stateinformation can be based on information received via communication 216from the cloud network 114 when the access device 108 is connected tothe cloud network 114. Using the state information, an interface moduleor tile for the network device 102 within display 222 can indicate an‘on’ or ‘off’ state for the network device 102 when the network deviceis powered on or off.

FIG. 3 is an example of a wireless network 300 according to someembodiments of the present invention. The network 300 can be included orimplemented in the network 100, the network 200, or a combinationthereof. Specifically, the network 300 can be a wireless local areanetwork enabling an access device to communicate with devices to controladjustment of attributes related to operation of the devices. Thenetwork 300 may have other components than those depicted. Further, theembodiment shown in the figure is only one example of a local areanetwork that may incorporate an embodiment of the invention. In someother embodiments, local area network 300 may have more or fewercomponents than shown in the figure, may combine two or more components,or may have a different configuration or arrangement of components. Theembodiments described herein can be used with various types of devicesand varying numbers devices.

The network 300 can include a device 302A, a device 302B, and device302C. In some embodiments, each of the devices 302A, 302B, and 302C mayinclude a home automation network device that allow a user to access,control, and/or configure various appliances, such as a television,radio, light, a fan, a humidifier, a sensor, microwave, iron, and/or thelike. For example, device 302A may be configured to enable control of afan, device 302B may be configured to enable control of a motion sensor,and device 302C may be configured to enable control of a light bulb.

The network 300 can enable user to monitor and/or control operation ofthe devices 302A-302C. For example, the user can monitor and controldevices by interacting with a visual interface of the gateway 110 (i.e.,a web page for gateway 110) and/or a visual interface rendered ondisplay 222 of the access device 108. In some embodiments, anapplication may be run on the access device 108. The application maycause the access device 108 to present a graphical interface (e.g., thedisplay 222) that includes a visual interface for each device accessibleon the network 300.

The visual interface corresponding to a device can provide a “status” ofthe device. In certain embodiments, the status or state of a device canbe indicated within the tile with text and/or graphically. The status ofthe device can change based on time (e.g., a period, an interval, orother time schedule). The status of a device may be any piece ofinformation pertinent to that particular device. The status of a devicemay be any changeable variable of that particular device. For example,the status of a device may include a state of the device itself (e.g.,on or off) or how the device is situated within the network with respectto the other network and other devices throughout the network. Forexample, the status of a device may refer to the device's proximity toanother device and/or its ability to communicate with another devicebecause of the relative signal strength between the two devices. Incertain embodiments, the status can include a value or some otherinformation indicating a unit of measure for a setting or an attributerelated to operation of a device. The setting or the attribute can beadjustable within a range of values. For example, the device can be alight bulb and the status can include a value corresponding tobrightness (e.g., a percentage of total brightness) emitted by the lightbulb when the light bulb is powered-on. In another example, the devicecan be a motion sensor and the status can include a value correspondingto sensitivity of the sensor in a range of values between 0 to 100 whenthe sensor is powered-on. In yet another example, the device can be afan and the status can include a value corresponding to a speed of thefan on a scale of 0 to 100 when the fan is powered-on.

An application operating on the access device 108 can access the cache202 to obtain information to display the visual interface for eachdevice 302A-302C registered within the network 300. FIG. 4 alsoillustrates that each of the devices 302A-302C may include a storagedevice, such as a cache, for storing data, including data regarding itsown status and data regarding statuses received from the other deviceswithin the network 300.

In some embodiments, the access device 108 can first determine whetherthe access device 108 is on the local area network 300 or anothernetwork. In some embodiments, the access device 108 may only performlocal network discovery when the access device 108 is on the local areanetwork 300. For example, access device 108 may, after being powered up,broadcast/send its status to one or more of the devices 302A-302C. Thedevices 302A-302C may store the status data received from access device108 until the next time access device 108 updates its status by sendingnew/updated status data. Cache may be used for storage within thedevices 302A-302C, the network 300, and/or the access device 108 withinthe local area network 400 so that each of the devices 302A-302C may beable to quickly retrieve the data it needs from storage. Although acaching device may be used to store such data within the network and/oraccess devices within the local area network 300, other types of storagemay be used.

As explained with reference to FIG. 2, the cache 202 can contain a knowninterface list 220 including interface information for different, knowntypes of devices. As explained earlier, the known interface list 220 caninclude a record for each device known by the access device 108 to existon the network 300. When an application is run on the access device 108,the access device 108 can access the known interfaces 240 in the cache202 to present the display 222. The display 222 can present one or morevisual interfaces, each corresponding to a device known to exist on thenetwork 300. Each visual interface can be generated based on a visualinterface module corresponding to each device on the network 300. In anexample, the display 222 can include a visual interface (e.g., a moduletile) for each device in the network 300 having an interface in theknown interface list 220.

The cache 202 can also contain a known device list 320 with a Device A302A last known address 324, a Device B 302B last known address 326, anda Device C 302C last known address 328. The known device list 320 canlist each device known by the access device 108 to exist on the localarea network 300. Devices 302A-302C can be present on the known devicelist 220 because the access device 108 or another device capable ofupdating the cache 202 of the access device 108 has previouslydiscovered devices 302A-302C.

In addition to address information, the cache 202 can contain knownstatus information 204 about each device in the known device list 320.When the application is run on the access device 108, the access device108 can access the known status information in the cache 202 to presenta status display 222. The access device 108 can populate each tile withan indicator representing the respective known status information foreach device in the known device list 320. For example, the statusdisplay 222 can include an indicator representing an “on” state forDevice A 302A and Device C 302C, and an indicator representing “off” forDevice B 302B. The status display 222 can include an indicator of one ormore attributes, one or more settings, or a combination thereof relatedto operation of each device in the network 300. For example, the statusdisplay can include a speed of a fan (e.g., a fan speed of 56 in a rangeof values between 0 and 100) of the device 302A (e.g., a fan), a valueof sensitivity of a sensor (e.g., a value of 34 in a range of values0-100) for the device 302B (e.g., a motion sensor), and a value ofbrightness (e.g., 65 percent brightness) for the device 302C (e.g., alight bulb). Although shown as having a single indicator for anattribute or a setting related to operation of a device, the statusdisplay 222 can present a plurality of indicators corresponding todifferent attributes and/or settings related to operation of a device.

In some embodiments, the cache 202 can include other information about adevice. The other information can indicate a device's firmware version,last known firmware update status, connectivity to cloud status,registration status (e.g., whether the device has a key or not), andother such information. The cache 202 can include information that couldbe used for troubleshooting. In embodiments described below, the accessdevice 108 can access status information from another other device onthe network 300 and can use that information to update its own cache202, update the status display 222, and/or pass the information to thecloud network 114 and/or the gateway 110 for trouble shooting and/orstorage.

Upon being powered on or reset, the devices 302A, 302B, and 302C may beregistered with the cloud network 114 and associated with a logicalnetwork within the local area network 300. Similarly, upon beingpowered/switched off or otherwise being disconnected from the network,the status of the device 302 would be known and stored by cacheassociated with the network 300. For example, cloud network 114 mayinclude storage (e.g. cache 308) that stores the status of the deviceswithin each local area network it is connected to and/or provides accessto. In another example, the gateway 110 may include storage (e.g., cache310) that stores the status of the devices within each local areanetwork it is connected to and/or provides access to. More specifically,the status stored in the cache 308 and/or the cache 310 may include astatus table which indicates the current status of each device (as ofits last communication with each device). A status table can include allstatuses of each device, or individual storage tables for each localarea network or other subset of its devices/networks. In one embodiment,a change in status may prompt the device to push its change in in statusto the cloud network 114 for storage or updating of the cloud's storedstatus table. In another embodiment, cloud network 114 and/or gateway110 may continuously (or periodically) communicate with each device tocheck to see if its status has changed.

In some embodiments, the access device 108 may, upon connecting to thelocal area network 300, check the status of the devices on the network.In other embodiments, one device may check the status of one or more ofthe other devices on the network. The access device 108 or the device302A-302C may seek to check the status of another device or accessdevice for various reasons, including to display such status(es) to auser on a display or otherwise, to check whether that device belongs tothe same network, to synchronize or coordinate any scheduled executions,to update an attribute based on adjustment received among others. Forexample, a device or user may desire to check various statuses on thedevice, such as power level, timestamped activity history (e.g.temperature for a thermostat, motion for a motion detector, etc.), howlong it has been active/turned on, an attributes for operation of thedevice (e.g., a brightness of a lamp, a speed of a fan, or a sensitivityof a sensor, etc.), among many others.

In some embodiments, a device, such as the access device 108 or thegateway 110, connected to the network 300 can communicate an updatedstatus of a device, such as the device 302A, the device 302B or thedevice 302C. The updated status can be communicated via the network 300and can include an adjustment that affects a status of the device. Theadjustment can include an amount of change to one or more attributes,one or more settings, or a combination thereof related to operation ofthe device connected to the network. As described earlier and furtherbelow with reference to FIGS. 5-11, the access device 108 or the gateway110 can present a graphical interface that can receive inputcorresponding to an adjustment to a status of a device. In someembodiments, the updated status of the device communicated to thenetwork 300 can be received by a device to which the updated statusapplies, or can be received by the gateway 110, the cloud network 110,or any other device in communication with the network. If the devicecannot directly receive the updated status, it can also receive theupdated status from the cloud network 114, the gateway 110, or the otherdevices in the network. In some embodiments, the device can communicateits updated status to the network which can indicate whether the statushas been updated. The updated status can be received by the accessdevice 108 or any other device in the network 300. In some embodimentswhere the access device 108 is not located within the network, theaccess device 108 may not immediately receive the updated status. Theupdated status can be stored by the cloud network 114 or the gateway 110for communication to the access device 108. The status of the device canindicate whether an adjustment was made based on an adjustment in asetting or an attribute transmitted by the access device 108.Alternatively, or additional, the access device 108 can receive, fromany other device connected to the network, a status update indicatingwhether the adjustment was in fact made at a device.

A device seeking to check the status of any other device on the networkmay communicate with the cloud network 114, to which all devices on thenetwork are connected either directly or indirectly. Since the cloudnetwork 114 and/or the gateway 110 can store an updated table/list ofthe statuses of each of the devices 302A-302C within the requestingnetwork's local area network, the cloud network 114 and/or gateway 110may communicate such status data to the devices 302A-302C and the accessdevice 108. For example, if device 302A and 302C were to each turn onand communicate their statuses to cloud network 114, cloud network 114may analyze the status of devices 302A and 302C and communicate todevices 302A and 302C that they are each connected to the same localarea network.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a wireless network 400, according toembodiments of the present invention. Specifically, the network 400 canbe a wireless local area network enabling an access device tocommunicate with devices to control adjustment of attributes related tooperation of the devices. Similar to the network 300 in FIG. 3, thenetwork 400 includes device 302A, device 302B, and device 302C. Thenetwork 400 also includes access device 108. In other words, the network400 is substantially similar to the network 300 except that accessdevice 108 has been turned on near the network 400, to which it isassociated, or has entered the an area to which the network 400 canreach.

When access device 108 can enter the network 400 as shown in FIG. 4,access device 108 may be authenticated based on the access device'sauthentication with the logical network or may otherwise commencecommunication with cloud network 114. Access device 108 may alsocommunicate notification of its presence or other information directlyto other devices 302A-302C within network 400, as shown in FIG. 4. Asnoted, such communication may include various communications protocols,such as Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), Bluetooth®, Zigbee®,Ultra-Wideband (UWB), WiFi-Direct, WiFi, Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE),sound frequencies, and/or the like. For example, access device 108 maycommunicate to all other devices in network 400, including device 302A,device 302B, device 302C, information/data regarding its status. Suchstatus data may include the fact that it is present and turned on, orother status data/information. At any time that devices 302A, 302B, 302Cand 302D recognize that access device 108 is present at network 400, thedevices may communicate back to access device 108. For example, thedevices may send an acknowledgement (e.g. ACK signal) back to accessdevice 108 to confirm that they received the status data sent by accessdevice 108. The devices may also send their own status data to accessdevice 108.

While devices 302A-302C and access device 108 may each receivecommunication from other devices around the network 400, including thestatus of each of those devices, devices 302A-302C and/or access device108 may be continuously scanning network 400 (including, for example,running discovery algorithms) to determine whether any devices withinthe network have moved, turned on/off or otherwise added to orsubtracted from the network, or have otherwise changed statuses.

Even though each device may know and store the state of each otherdevice within local area network 400, a device may not know when anotherdevice changes status (e.g. turns/powers off). However, devices and/oraccess devices within local area network 400 may broadcast/send anyupdates in its status to other devices on the network. For example, ifdevice 302A changes status, it may send status data to the otherdevices, such as devices 302B, 302C and 302D and to access device 108.However, device 302A may not know which devices to update since theother devices may change statuses periodically (e.g. turn off).

Therefore, a network or access device may subscribe to another networkor access device within local area network 400. For example, devices302B, 302C and access device 108 may subscribe to status datanotifications/updates from device 302A. Such a subscription may beregistered for upon initial connection with device 302A when device 302Afirst enters local area network 400 or at any other time after device302A has been associated with local area network 400. Subscriptions maybe controlled to last indefinitely or may expire after a certainpredetermined period of time after initial subscription. However,devices may re-subscribe to another device before or after theirprevious subscription has expired.

Subscriptions between device and/or access devices may be registeredsimilar to registering a device upon initial entrance into the localarea network including security registrations described herein withrespect to FIG. 1. For example, a device may send its unique securitykey, which it may have stored along with its network ID after beingregistered on the network, to a device to which it wants to subscribe.However, subscriptions may take on many other forms, including sending adifferent form of identification to a device to which a device wants tosubscribe. Upon receiving a subscription from another device or accessdevice, the device being subscribed to may store a list of the devicesthat subscribed to it. For example, device 302A may store a list ofdevices 302B, 302C, and access device 108 after those devices subscribeto device 302A. Then, when device 302A undergoes a change in status,device 302A may send that change in status to only the devices that hadpreviously subscribed to it but where the subscription had not yetexpired. Furthermore, according to some embodiments, the subscriptionlist of a device may be automatically updated if that device receivesnotification that another device has left the range of the local areanetwork, either from that device itself or from a different device.Therefore, the various devices within a given local area network, suchas network 400, each contain continuously updated statuses of each otherdevice on the network and obtain those statuses and updates throughdirect communication without necessary use of the cloud.

Since devices 302 and access device 108 may each receive communicationfrom other devices around network 400, including the status of each ofthose devices, each device within network 400 may know the status ofeach other device in the network 400. For example, access device 108 ordevices 302 may not be required to communicate with cloud network 114 inorder to obtain one or more of such statuses. Since cloud network 114 isan external network and may be remote from network 400, communicationbetween devices within the network 400 and cloud 114 may take more timethan communication between two devices within network 400. For example,communication between devices within network 400 may take anywhere from1 millisecond to 100 milliseconds, while communication between a devicewithin network 400 and the cloud network 114 may take anywhere from 50milliseconds to 1 second or more). Furthermore, if a device isretrieving information from cloud 114, the request must travel from thedevice to cloud network 114, and then the information must travel backfrom cloud network 114 to the device. This process may double thelatency caused by retrieving information with cloud 114. Therefore,devices within the network 400 may choose to send and receive/retrievestatuses directly with other devices within the network instead ofcommunicating such information via cloud network 114. When a devicereceives status data from another device on the device's local areanetwork, it may store that status data so that it may retrieve and usethat status data at a later time.

Throughout FIGS. 5-11, graphical interfaces (e.g., displays) are shownin an access device (e.g., the access device 108) rendering one or morevisual interfaces to enable control of operation of a device (e.g., thedevice 302A, 302B, and 302C) when available within a network (e.g., alocal area network). A device can include or be communicatively coupledto a home automation network device. The visual interfaces can berendered upon execution of a visual interface module by an applicationon the access device. The visual interfaces are shown with one or acombination of tiles, interactive areas, interactive elements, icons,links, command regions, windows, toolbars, sub-menus, drawers, andbuttons that are used to initiate action, invoke routines, monitornetwork devices, configure network devices, control network devices, orinvoke other functionality. The initiated actions include, but are notlimited to, displaying a status of a device, displaying a current stateof the device, displaying historical data associated with the device,displaying a last known status of the network device, selecting one ormore primary settings for the device, selecting one or more secondary ortertiary settings of the device, and other inputs and gestures. Forbrevity, only the differences occurring within the figures, as comparedto previous or subsequent ones of the figures, are described below.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary display 505 of an application executing on anaccess device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Thedisplay 505 includes a graphical interface with modular tiles 502A,502B, and 502C) for interacting with devices in a network. The modulartile 502A, modular tile 502B, and the modular tile 502C correspond todevice 302A, device 302B and device 302C, respectively. A modular tilecan enable interactions to monitor and/or control a device correspondingto the modular tile.

As explained before, a modular tile can include interactive areas orinteractive elements to enable interaction with the modular tile. Thetiles 502A, 502B, and 502C can each include respective icons 508A, 508B,and 508C, and respective names 504A, 504B, and 504C corresponding to adevice. For example, tile 502A corresponds to a fan and includes aninteractive element depicted as a power button 530A for turning the fanon and off. In another example, tile 502B corresponds to a motion sensorand includes an interactive element depicted as a power button 530B forturning the sensor on and off. In another example, tile 502C correspondsto a light bulb and includes an interactive element depicted as a powerbutton 530 c for turning the light bulb on and off. An interactiveelement shown as a control (e.g., power button) can be displayed basedon a state of the device corresponding to the control. The interactiveelement can be visibly illuminated, colored, shaded, bolded, or modifiedto a different shape.

In some embodiments, tiles 502 are customizable by developers and/ormanufacturers of the corresponding devices. For, example, name 504B iscustomized to indicate the name of a specific type of sensor (e.g., “MyMotion Sensor”). In additional or alternative embodiments, tiles 502 canconvey status information about a corresponding device, including, butnot limited to, a firmware version, a last known firmware update status,status for connectivity to a cloud network, registration status (i.e.,an indication that the device has a key or does not), a primary mode ofthe device (i.e., on, off), a secondary mode of the device (i.e.,standby, high, low, eco), a schedule, settings (e.g., speed orsensitivity) for the device, and one or more attributes (e.g.,brightness) related to operation of the device.

Each of the tiles 502 can be chosen and displayed based on the typeand/or capabilities of a device (e.g., the devices 302A, 302B, 302C).The display 505 is flexible and can dynamically display the mostappropriate tile 502 for whatever environment the application is run in.For instance, the display 505 enables a mechanism wherein a user canpre-configure a tile 502B to display the most appropriate message for aconnected sensor. For example, a user can connect any one of a pluralityof types of sensors (e.g., water, humidity, temperature/heat, airpressure, light, sound, smoke, carbon monoxide, motion, etc.) to anetwork. As shown in FIG. 5, instead of presenting a default interfacestating a generic message like ‘the sensor has detected something at acertain time’ the tile 502B can be configured it to provide asensor-specific status (e.g., ‘Motion sensed in the living room 11:05AM’ or ‘someone is in the living room.’). Similarly, tiles 502 for othertypes of sensor devices can be configured to present sensor-specificstates 506 or status messages such as, for example, ‘the leak detectorat a certain location has detected elevated levels of moisture’ or ‘thesmoke detector has detected smoke in the kitchen.’

As shown in FIG. 5, the tile 502A can display a status 506A of a settingor attribute related to operation of the device 302A. For example, thestatus 506A can indicate a speed (e.g., a speed of 50%) for the device302A (e.g., 302A). Tile 502B can display a status 506B of a setting oran attribute related to operation of the device 302B. For example, thestatus 506B can indicate a sensitivity (e.g., a sensitivity of 50%) forthe device 302B (e.g., a sensor). Tile 502C can display a status 506C ofa setting or an attribute (e.g., brightness) related to operation of thedevice 302C. For example, the status 506C can indicate a brightness(e.g., brightness of 0%) output by the device 302C (e.g., a light bulb).In some embodiments, the tile 502 or the interactive elements in thetile 502 can be displayed differently based on the status of the devicecorresponding to the tile. In the example shown in the display 505, thestatus 506C indicates that the light bulb is at 0%, which corresponds tothe light bulb being turned off. In an embodiment, this status is alsoreflected by the power button 530C for the light bulb not being lit upor shaded/bolded.

FIG. 5 also shows how display 505 can include interactive elements(e.g., selectable icons and links) 514, 516, 518, 520, 522, and 524outside of the tiles 502. For example, refresh icon 514 can be selectedto refresh information presented in display 505, such as, for example,status and state information displayed in tiles 502A, 502B, and 502C.For instance, one or more of the statuses 506A-506C for each of thetiles 502A-502C, respectively, can be refreshed on an automatic,periodic basis, in addition to being manually updated when refresh icon514 is selected.

In some embodiments, the display 505 can include an edit link 516.Interaction with the edit link 516 can enable one or more of the tiles502A, 502B, and 502C to be editable. For example, edit link 516 can beselected to sort or re-order the sequence of tiles 502A, 502B, and 502Cdisplayed in the display 505. Upon interaction with the edit link 516,one or more of the tiles 502A, 502B, and 502C can be interacted with tobe disabled or removed. Devices icon 518 can be selected to cause agraphical interface to be presented with one or more devices that arediscovered in a network.

In some embodiments, the display 505 can include a rules icon 520.Interaction with a rules icon 520 can enable a graphical interface toenable customization of display rules pertaining to the devices. Thegraphical interface can provide one or more interactive elements tocontrol one or more rules related to control of the devices (e.g., thedevices 302A, 302B, 302C). The graphical interface can be presented inthe display 505 or can be shown separately from the display 505.

In some embodiments, the display 505 can include a news icon 522.Interaction with the news icon 522 can enable a graphical interface tobe display which presents news including information associated with thedevices and/or the applications. For instance, interaction with the newsicon 522 can cause a graphical interface to be displayed in the accessdevice to present information related to the devices controlled via thetiles 502A, 502B, and 502C and/or information relevant to theapplication, such as notifications of available tile updates.

In some embodiments, the display 505 can include a more icon 524.Interactive with the more icon 524 can provide one or more additionalgraphical interfaces to enable access to additional features forcontrolling and/or monitoring the devices in a network. For example, anadditional graphical interface can be displayed to control one or moresettings and/or attributes of any devices connected to a network. Anexample of an additional graphical interface is described with referenceto FIG. 11.

The display 505 can receive input to control one or more functionalitiesand/or to adjust one or more settings or attributes related to operationof a device identified in the display 505. The functionalities caninclude secondary functionalities, tertiary functionalities, etc. beyondprimary functionalities (e.g., power control). The display 505 can beinteractive or can include interactive areas to receive input to assistthe user in controlling a functionality, setting, or attribute of adevice identified in the display 505. For example, each tile 502A-502Ccan receive input via a portion of the display 505 including the tile502A-502C corresponding to a device. The input received via thecorresponding tile can be used to control operation of a devicecorresponding to the tile. The input can include one or more of a tap, atouch, a click, a swipe, a continuous movement, other motions, or acombination thereof. In some embodiments, the input can be received as aseries of inputs to control the device corresponding to the tile. Theinput can be provided in one or more directions in the tile.

In one illustrative example, the display 505 can receive input in anyarea (e.g., interactive area 550) of the tile 502C to control a settingor an attribute related to operation of the device 302C. The input canbe can be a continuous movement or motion (e.g., slide or swipe) of afinger across the display 505 in the tile 502C to a differentinteractive area 555 in the display 510. The display 505 can be adjustedto the display 510 as the input is received from one area 550 to anotherarea 555. In some embodiments, a movement along an axis of a dimensionin the tile 502C can control a setting or an attribute related tooperation of the device 302C. For example, a movement corresponding tothe input can control brightness of the light bulb 302C corresponding tothe tile 502C.

The input (e.g., the movement) can cause the attribute or the setting(e.g., brightness) of the device 302C to be adjusted. The adjustment tothe attribute can be based on an amount of the input, a length of timewhen the input is received, a distance of movement corresponding to theinput, a direction of the input, or any other criteria associated withinformation obtained from the input. The device can be adjusted from thelast known state or value of the attribute or setting that is beingadjusted. The attribute can be adjusted in proportion to the distance ofmovement indicated by input. The attribute can continue to adjust solong as the input is received continuously until a maximum value orstate can be reached for the attribute. The attribute can be adjustedbased on a direction of the movement indicated by the input. Forexample, a movement from left to right in the tile 302C can correspondto an increase in a value of the attribute and a movement from right toleft in the tile 302C can correspond to a decrease in the value of theattribute, or vice versa.

In response to the input received starting from the interactive area550, the display 505 can be modified to present the display 510. Theinput received from the area 550 to the area 555 can be transmitted tothe network on which the device 302C is connected. The display 510 canshow an indication of the adjustment to the device 302. For example, thetile 502C corresponding to the device 302C can be modified or replacedwith a modified tile to show a change in status of the device 302C. Themodified tile 502C can be presented with the updated status after orbefore receiving an updated status indicating the change was received bythe device 302C. In some embodiments, the icon 508C can be modified toindicate a change in the setting or the attribute by showing a change ina visual appearance of the icon 508C. For example, the icon 508C may bemodified to show the light bulb filled, shaded, dimmed, or brightened toan amount corresponding to the amount of brightness which reflects theupdated status. The status 506C can be modified to show an updatedstatus that reflects an amount of brightness of the bulb resulting afterthe adjustment. In some embodiments, the status 506C can indicate anamount of the adjustment. The power button 530C can be updatedcorresponding to a change in the status of the device 302C for the tile502A. In FIG. 5, the power button 530C can be modified to indicate acolor or shading because the status of the light bulb 302C changed frombrightness of 0% to a brightness of 65%.

In some embodiments, the display 510 may be modified to indicate anadjustment to a setting or an attribute of a device 302 even before anadjustment for the setting or the attribute can be made at the device.For example, in FIG. 5, the icon 530C may be modified to indicate thatan adjustment has been requested. In some embodiments, the tile 502C maybe modified to display an indication of an adjustment to the setting bymodifying the status 506C. Such an indication may be useful to inform auser that his desired setting has been requested based on the inputprovided by the user. Thus, the indication may identify that a desiredchange in a setting or an attribute, without actually indicating thatthe device has been adjusted. By providing such an indication, a usermay determine whether he wishes to make further adjustments.

In some embodiments, the display 510 may be modified to indicate that anadjustment based on user input has in fact been made at a device 302.Continuing from the previous example, the tile 502C can be furthermodified to indicate that the device 302C has been adjusted based oninput received from the area 550 and the area 555. For example, the icon508C can be updated to reflect that the device 302C has been adjusted toa brightness corresponding to the status 506C, which may already beshown in the tile 502C. Alternatively or additionally, the icon 530C maybe further modified to change an appearance, although not shown in FIG.5. The tile 502C may be modified in many ways to provide confirmationthat the corresponding device 302C has been adjusted. Providing anindication that an adjustment has been made may be useful in systemsapplication of the adjustment at the device 302 may take longer thanexpected.

FIG. 6 shows another exemplary display 605 of an application executingon an access device according to an embodiment of the present invention.The display 605 can include elements described with reference to FIG. 5,such as elements of the display 505. The display 605 can include agraphical interface with modular tiles 502A, 502B, and 502C forinteracting with devices in a network. The modular tile 502A, modulartile 502B, and the modular tile 502C correspond to device 302A, device302B and device 302C, respectively.

FIG. 6 shows some embodiments for controlling operation of a devicecorresponding to a modular tile. A modular tile, such as tile 502C, caninclude one or more interactive elements (e.g., control 604).Interaction with a modular tile (e.g., selection of the modular tile bya user), an interactive area in the module tile, or one or moreinteractive elements included in the tile can cause the application toprovide one or more additional visual interfaces in the graphicalinterface of the display 605. For example, any interaction with the tilesuch as a selection of the power button 530C in tile 502C, interactionwith the tile 502C, or selection of the control 604, can cause one ormore additional visual interfaces to be displayed in the display 610. Anadditional visual interface can enable a user to control one or moreattributes and/or one or more settings related to operation of thedevice corresponding to the modular tile.

FIG. 6 shows an example of multiple visual interfaces that can bedisplayed upon interaction with a modular tile. To illustrate, uponinteraction with the control 604, interaction with the tile 502C, orselection of the power button 530C, the display 605 can change to a newdisplay 610. The display 610 can include elements of the display 605,such as the modular tiles 502A, 502B, and 502C for interacting withdevices in a network. In some embodiments, the display 610 can includeone or both of the visual interfaces 602, 618. In this example, thedisplay 610 can include an additional visual interface 602 and anadditional visual interface 618. Although the visual interfaces 602, 618are shown below the tiles 502A-502C, the visual interfaces 602, 618 canbe shown above, under, or any other position in the display 610 that canbe identifiable with a corresponding tile from which the additionalvisual interfaces 602, 618 were initiated for display.

An additional visual interface can appear as a sub-menu that enablescontrol of attributes and/or settings related to operation of a devicecorresponding to a tile. For example, the visual interfaces 602,618 canbe a sub-menu to control attributes and/or settings for the device 302Cthe corresponding to tile 502C. In some embodiments, a visual interfacemay appear to a user as one or more drawers. The visual interface may bedisplayed for a time period as it may not be displayed unless otherwiserequested by a user. In such embodiments, the visual interface can bedisplayed momentarily (e.g., for a brief time period), conceptuallypresented as a ‘peekaboo drawer.’ The additional visual interfaces 602,618 can enable adjustment of settings related to a primary functions ofthe device, such as turning a device on and off, or secondary functionssuch as adjusting a setting or an attribute when a device is operational(e.g., in a powered-on state). An additional visual interface, e.g., thevisual interface 602, can include an interactive element (e.g., aninteractive element 608) to hide or cause the visual interface todisappear. The tile 502C corresponding to the visual interface 602 caninclude an interactive element 606 to cause the visual interface 602 todisappear. Alternatively or additional, when a visual interface isdisplayed, interaction (e.g., a tap) with the tile 502C can cause thevisual interface to disappear.

Also shown in the example provided in FIG. 6, the visual interface 602can include an interactive element 632 to enable dynamic adjustment ofan attribute or setting related to operation of a device that is poweredin an “on” state, such as the device 302C. In some embodiments where thedevice in the display 610 as being powered in an “off” state, theinteractive element 632 can be used to adjust the attributes and/or thesettings to be applied at a later time when the device is powered in an“on” state. In this case, the device 302C is a light bulb, which canhave many settings and attributes, such as brightness, light color,color temperature, 3-way settings, etc. The interactive element 632 canenable adjustment (e.g., sliding) in a single direction (e.g., ahorizontal direction or a vertical direction) when moved, causing anadjustment to the attribute or the setting associated with theinteractive element 632. The scale (e.g., range of values) foradjustment of the interactive element can correspond to a range ofvalues or states associated with an attribute. The scale can be based onone or more units of increment (e.g., percentage or value). Theattribute or setting controlled by the interactive element 632 can beadjusted (e.g., increased/decreased, changed, etc.) based on movement ofthe interactive element 632. Movement in one direction can cause a valueof an attribute, such as brightness to increase, and movement in anotherdirection cause the value to decrease. The adjustment can vary based onthe setting, and can include, among others, different gradients, scales,measurements, states, or values.

The visual interface 602 can include multiple interactive elements, eachcontrolling one attribute or setting related to operation of a device.In some embodiments, the visual interface 602 may not include theinteractive element 632, and instead can enable a user to adjust asetting or an attribute by accepting input (e.g., a motion, a swipe, atap, a click, a selection, etc.). The input can be accepted in anydirection. Input can be accepted in multiple directions where eachdirection can control adjustment of a different attribute or a differentsetting.

In this example, the interactive element 632 can control a percentage ofbrightness of the light bulb 302C. A change in the interactive element632 can be updated to the tile 502C. For example, the icon 508C and/orthe status 506C can be updated to reflect an indication of a change inthe brightness attribute. Similarly, the tile 502C can be updated toprovide a visual indication (e.g., a motion, a color, animation,shading, etc.) to indicate an adjustment.

Continuing with the example shown in FIG. 6, the visual interface 618(e.g., “sleep fader”) can provide one or more interactive elements tocontrol a time period for applying (e.g., fading) an adjustment for theinput received from the interactive element 632. For example, theadjustment specified by the interactive element 632 for the light bulb302C will be applied over a time period indicated via the visualinterface 618. In certain embodiments, the adjustment can be appliedequally over the time period until a desired state is reached. Theadjustment can be made based on a scale, a gradient, a measurement, or arange of values over which the adjustment can be made equal during thetime period. In some embodiments, the adjustment can be appliedunequally to the device based on criteria. For example, the brightnessof the device 302C can be adjusted unequally over a time periodaccording to a dimming curve (e.g., a logarithmic based curve) to whichhumans perceive a gradual change in light.

The visual interface 618 can enable a user to specify a time period overwhich a device (e.g., the device 302C) is to be powered to an “on” statefrom an“off” state. The device 302C can be adjusted to the last knownstate known for the device 302C. The last known state can based one ormore or more attributes and/or settings of the device 302C. Theadjustment to the last known state can be based on one or moreattributes and/or settings related to the operation of the device 302C.Similar to applying the adjustment based on the time period specifiedvia the visual interface 618, the device 302 can be gradually adjustedto the last known state based on the time period specified in the visualinterface 618. The adjustment can be gradually changed by an equal or anunequal amount until the previous state is reached. The adjustment canbe applied in a similar manner as described above when the device isbeing controlled while powered in an “on” state.

The visual interface 618 can include one or more interactive elements620 that can enable a user to choose an interval or time period (e.g., 1min, 5 min, 10 min, 30 min, a custom time, or any other time period)during which the adjustment to an attribute specified by the interactiveelement 632 is to be applied. Additionally or alternatively, theinteractive elements 620 can include or implement a spinner control thatenables a user to select one or more time periods. In some embodiments,the visual interface 618 can include an interactive element 614 that canenable a user to enter a time period to apply the adjustment to anattribute or a setting. Alternatively or additionally, the interactiveelement 614 can cause an additional visual interface (not shown) to bedisplayed in the display 610 that enables a user provide inputindicating a time period. For example, the additional visual interfacecan be displayed in association with the visual interface 618 or on topof the visual interface 602 and/or the visual interface 618. Theadditional visual interface can include a spinner control or other typeof interactive element that can enable a user to choose from a list ofvalues to indicate a custom time period. The additional visual interfacecan include one or more interactive elements to specify a custom timeperiod.

An interactive element 616 (“go to sleep”) can enable the time periodspecified in the visual interface 618 to be applied for making theadjustment received via the visual interface 602. Interaction with theinteractive element 616 can cause the time period to be applied to theadjustment made with the interactive element 632. Upon interaction withthe interactive element 616, the visual interface 618 can be updated toinclude a title 612 that indicates a time period remaining (e.g., “59min remaining”) for a time period chosen via an interactive element 620in the visual interface 618.

In some embodiments, the visual interface 618 can be presented alonewithout the visual interface 602. In such embodiments, the visualinterface 618 can enable a user to control a time period for changing astate of operation for a device corresponding to the tile 502Cassociated with the visual interface 618. In the example provided inFIG. 6, the visual interface 618 can be used to indicate an interval ortime period over which the device 302C is to be powered off from itscurrent status (e.g., brightness of 65 percent). The visual interface618 can also be used to indicate a time period over which the device302C is to be powered to an “on” state based on a last known status(e.g., brightness of 65 percent) of the device 302C when connected tothe network. The adjustment to the last known status can be based on oneor more attributes and/or settings related to the operation of thedevice 302C. As described above, the device 302C can be graduallyadjusted from a powered “off” state to a powered “on” state at the basedon the time period specified in the visual interface 618.

FIG. 7 shows another exemplary display 705 of an application executingon an access device according to an embodiment of the present invention.The display 705 can include elements described with reference to FIG. 5,such as elements of the display 505. The display 705 can include agraphical interface with modular tiles 502A, 502B, and 502C forinteracting with devices in a network. The modular tile 502A, modulartile 502B, and the modular tile 502C correspond to device 302A, device302B and device 302C, respectively.

FIG. 7 shows some embodiments for controlling operation of a devicecorresponding to a modular tile. A modular tile, such as tile 502C, caninclude one or more interactive elements or one or more interactiveareas. Interaction with a modular tile (e.g., selection of the modulartile by a user), one or more interactive areas, or one or moreinteractive elements can enable the display 705 to receive input tocontrol one or more functionalities and/or to adjust one or moresettings or attributes related to operation of a device corresponding toone or more tiles 502A-502C in the display 705. For example, anyinteraction with the tile such as a selection of the power button 530Cin tile 502C or interaction with the tile 502C can enable the display705 to receive input to control one or more functionalities and/or toadjust one or more settings or attributes related to operation of thedevice 302C corresponding to the tile 502C. The functionalities caninclude secondary functionalities, tertiary functionalities, etc. beyondprimary functionalities (e.g., power control). The display 705 can beinteractive to receive input to assist the user in controlling afunctionality, setting, or attribute of a device identified in thedisplay 705. For example, each tile 702A-702C can receive input via aportion of the display 705 including the tile 702A-702C corresponding toa device. The input can include one or more of a tap, a touch, a click,a swipe, a movement, other motion, or a combination thereof. In someembodiments, the input can be received in a series of input to initiatecontrol of the device corresponding to the tile. The input can beprovided in one or more directions in the tile.

In one illustrative example, the display 705 can receive input via atile to control a setting or an attribute related to operation of adevice corresponding to the tile. For example, an input received in aninteractive area 755 within the tile 502C or an input indicatingselection of the power button 530C can cause initiate another state ofthe display 705. The new state can enable user can provide additionalinput, such as at an interactive area 755 outside the tile 502C oranother interactive area within the tile 760, to control one or moreattributes, one or more settings, or a combination thereof related tooperation of the device 302C. In some embodiments, a user can skipproviding input at the interactive area 750, and directly proceed toinput at either or both of the interactive areas 755 and 760. Bystarting in the tile 502, the input received at the interactive area 760can be associated with a device corresponding to the tile 502C where theinput began. The display 705 may be interactive to receive an input,e.g., a continuous motion or a swipe, across the display 705 starting atthe interactive area 755 or the interactive area 760 to control asetting (e.g., brightness) of the device 302C. In some embodiments, amovement in a one-dimensional direction can control one setting orattribute related to operation of the device 302C. For example, amovement in a single direction (e.g., horizontal direction) starting atthe interactive area 755 can control one attribute or setting of adevice, e.g., brightness of the light bulb 302C. Movement in anotherdirection (e.g., vertical) opposite of the previous input can controlanother, different attribute, e.g., color temperature of the light bulb302C. Additionally or alternatively, at step 2, a user moves a fingeracross a surface of the display 705 in a vertical direction alongside adifferent axis of the display 705 to control an attribute or setting ofthe device 302C.

The display 705 can be modified to a display 710 based on the inputreceived starting at the interactive area 755 or the interactive area760. The display 710 can be updated when movement is complete from theinput starting at either or both of the interactive areas 755 and 760 tothe interactive areas 770 and 765, respectively. The adjustment to theattribute can be based on an amount of the input, a length of time whenthe input is received, a distance in a movement corresponding to theinput, a direction of the input, or any other criteria corresponding tothe input or determinable based on the input. The device can be adjustedbased on an adjustment indicated by the input. The attribute or settingcan be adjusted in proportion to the distance of movement for the input.The attribute can continue to adjust so long as the input is receivedcontinuously until a maximum can be reached for the attribute. Theattribute can be adjusted based on a direction of the movement for theinput. For example, a movement from left to right in the tile 302C canindicate an increase in a value of a setting for adjustment and amovement from right to left in the tile 302C can indicate a decrease inthe value of the setting for the adjustment, or vice versa. Theadjustment can be communicated to the network on which the device isconnected.

The display 710 can show an indication of the adjustment to the device302. For example, the tile 502C corresponding to the device 302C can bemodified to show a change in status of the device 302C. The display 510can be presented with the updated status after or before receiving aresponse indicating the change was received by the device 302C. In someembodiments, the icon 508C associated with the tile 502A can be modifiedto indicate a change in status, such as a change in a visual appearanceof the icon 508C. For example, an icon in a tile, such as the icon 508C,may be modified to indicate a state of the device corresponding to thetile 502C. The icon 508C can be modified in many ways, such as byshowing the light bulb filled corresponding to a value or a change inthe setting or the attribute (e.g., a changein an amount of brightness).The icon 508C can be modified by showing the light bulb dimmed,brightened, shaded, colored, or a combination thereof corresponding toan amount of brightness or a change in the state. In some embodiments,the icon 508C can be an image of a device, which can be modified inappearance by changing a contrast or color of the image. For instance,when the icon 508C is a light bulb, the icon 508C can be dimmed,brightened, shaded, colored, adjusted for contrast, or a combinationthereof corresponding to the new state of the device. In someembodiments, a gradual change in the appearance of the icon 508C can beshown corresponding to a gradual change in an attribute or a setting ofthe device 302C or a gradual change to a different state. In anotherexample, a status in a tile, such as the status 506C, can be updated toreflect the new value after the adjustment (e.g., an amount ofbrightness of the bulb resulting after the adjustment). The power button530C can be updated corresponding to a change in the status of thedevice 302C for the tile 502A. In FIG. 7, the power button 530C can bemodified to indicate a color or shading because the status of the lightbulb 302C changed from brightness of 0% to a brightness of 65%.

FIG. 8 shows another exemplary display 805 of an application executingon an access device according to an embodiment of the present invention.The display 805 can include elements described with reference to FIG. 5,such as elements of the display 505. The display 805 can include agraphical interface with modular tiles 502A, 502B, and 502C forinteracting with devices in a network. The modular tile 502A, modulartile 502B, and the modular tile 502C correspond to device 302A, device302B and device 302C, respectively. In the example shown in FIG. 8, sometiles, e.g., 502C, can display multiple attributes and/or settingsrelated to operation of a device associated with the tile. The tile 502Ccan include an interactive element 608 that indicates a state of colorfor the light bulb. In this example, the light bulb 302C has no colorand no brightness because the light bulb is off. The power button 530Cmay provide an indication of a state (e.g., off) of the device 302C.

As explained earlier, the display 805 can receive input via a tile tocontrol one or more functionalities and/or to adjust one or moresettings or attributes related to operation of a device identified inthe display 505. For example, each tile 502A-502C can receive input viaa portion of the display 505 including the tile 502A-502C correspondingto a device. The input received via the corresponding tile can be usedto control operation of a device corresponding to the tile. In theexample shown in FIG. 8, each of the tiles 502A-502C can receivemultiple inputs, each of which can cause a different attribute orsetting to be adjusted for operation of the device 302A-302C,respectively. In some embodiments, the input can be received as a seriesof inputs to initiate control of the device corresponding to the tile.The input can be provided in one or more directions in the tile.

In one illustrative example, the display 805 can receive multiple inputsvia the tile 502C to control multiple settings and/or attributes relatedto operation of a device corresponding to the tile 502C. For example, inthe display 805, a user can provide input (e.g., a slide or a swipe of afinger) starting in an interactive area 850 of the tile 502C. In thesame example, the user can provide an input (e.g., a slide or a swipe ofa finger) starting in a different interactive area 855 of the tile 502C.In some embodiments, the input received at the interactive area 850 andthe the interactive area 855 can be performed in parallel or a differentorder. In some embodiments, a movement in one direction (e.g.,horizontal) from the interactive area 850 can control a setting or anattribute related to operation of the device 302C corresponding to thetile 502C and a movement in another direction (e.g., vertical) from theinteractive area 855 can control a different setting or attribute. Forexample, a movement of a finger across the tile 502C in a horizontaldirection from the interactive area 850 can control brightness of thelight bulb 302C corresponding to the tile 502C. In the same example, amovement of a finger across the tile 502C can control a color attributeof the light bulb 302C corresponding to the tile 502C. In the case of acolor attribute, the attribute may have multiple states. An adjustmentof an attribute can be based on a movement in a direction of the inputfrom one step to another. The adjustment based on the input receivedfrom

The display 805 can be modified to a display 810 based on the inputreceived starting at the interactive area 850 or the interactive area855. The display 810 can be updated when movement is complete from theinput starting at either or both of the interactive areas 850 and 855 tothe interactive areas 860 and 865, respectively. The display 810 canshow an indication of the adjustment to the device 302C based on theinputs. As explained above, the tile 502C can be modified to reflect achange in a status based on the input. The status 506C can be updated toreflect an amount of brightness of the bulb resulting after theadjustment. The color indicator 806 can be updated to indicate a changedstate of color for the light bulb 302C since the light bulb 302C is on.In some embodiments, the status 506C can indicate an amount of theadjustment. The power button 530C can be modified corresponding to achange in the status of the device 302C for the tile 502A. The powerbutton 530C can be modified to indicate a color or shading because thestatus of the light bulb 302C changed from brightness of 0% to abrightness of 65%.

FIG. 9 shows another exemplary display 905 of an application executingon an access device according to an embodiment of the present invention.The display 905 can include elements described with reference to FIG. 5,such as elements of the display 505. The display 905 can include agraphical interface with modular tiles 502A for interacting with adevice in a network. The modular tile 502A can correspond to device302A. In certain embodiments, a tile can correspond to multiple devices(e.g., a group of devices) and interaction with the tile can enable auser to monitor and/or control operation of those devices. The devicesin a group can have similar types of devices or can have different typesof devices. For example, the display 905 shows a tile 902 thatcorresponds to multiple light bulbs in a group. The tile 902 cancorrespond to light bulbs including the light bulb 302C.

The tile 902 can include an icon 908 representative of the types ofdevices in the group. The icon may indicate a count of the devices inthe group (e.g., “2”). The tile 902 can include a label such as label904, which indicates a name of the group. The name can be customized toindicate a name and/or a status of the group. The tile 902 can includeinformation about a status of the device, such as a status 906corresponding to brightness of all the light bulbs in the group. Thetile 902 can include an interactive element, such as a power button 930,which can control operation of the devices in the group. The powerbutton 930 can operate in a similar manner as the power buttons530A-530C. The power button 930 can be interactive to receive input tocontrol a power state of the devices in the group. In such embodiments,one or more attributes and/or one or more settings of the devices in thegroup can be controlled collectively based on input received via thedisplay 905 or the tile 902.

The tile 902 can be interactive and can operate in a manner similar to atile previously described with reference to FIGS. 5-8. In particular,the tile 902 may be interactive to receive input in a similar manner fortiles described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 8. However, control of anattribute or a setting is applied to all devices in the group. Forexample, the tile 902 may be interactive to receive input from one ormore interactive areas in the tile, such as input received at aninteractive area 950. In this example, the input can be a continuousmovement of a finger across the tile 902 to a different interactive area955 in the tile 902. In response to the input, the display 905 can bemodified to 910 to indicate an updated status of the tile 902 based onthe adjustment. For example, the icon 908, the status 906, and/or thepower button 930 can all be modified to indicate a value of a statuschange for the devices in the group or to affect an appearance of thedevices in the group.

The adjustment to a setting or an attribute of each device in a groupcan be performed as described above for adjustments to a single device.The tile 902 can be configured such that a similar attribute of thedevices similar to the group are adjusted based on the attribute.Devices that are different amongst the other in the group can beadjusted based on a different attribute. In some embodiments, before thegroup is created, each of the devices in the group may have a differentstatus with respect to a similar attribute or setting that may bedifferent (i.e., have a different value) for each device. In suchembodiments, each similar attribute can be adjusted proportionally basedan adjustment corresponding to the input. As explained above, theadjustment based on an input (e.g., a continuous movement) cancorrespond to a scale, a gradient, a range, or other criteria by whichthe input can be measured.

FIG. 10 shows another exemplary display 1005 of an application executingon an access device according to an embodiment of the present invention.The display 1005 can include elements described with reference to FIGS.5 and 9, such as elements of the display 505 and elements of the display905. The display 1005 can include a graphical interface with the modulartile 502A and the modular tile 902 for interacting with devices in anetwork. The modular tile 502A can correspond to the device 302A. Themodular tile 902 can correspond to the device 302C among other lightbulbs.

In some embodiments, such as the one shown in FIG. 10, a tile for agroup of devices, such as the tile 902, can include one or moreinteractive elements (e.g., control 1004). Interaction with a modulartile (e.g., selection of the modular tile by a user), one or moreinteractive areas within the modular tile or the display 1005, or one ormore interactive elements included in the modular tile can cause one ormore additional visual interfaces to be displayed in the graphicalinterface of the display 905. For example, any interaction with the tilesuch as a selection of the power button 930 in tile 902, interactionwith the tile 902, or selection of the control 1004, can cause one ormore additional visual interfaces to be displayed in the display 1005.An additional visual interface can enable a user to control one or moreattributes and/or one or more settings related to operation of thedevice corresponding to the modular tile. In the example shown in FIG.10, the visual interfaces 1002, 1018, and 1022 can be displayed in thedisplay 1010. In some embodiments, the display 1005 can be modified tothe display 1010 to accommodate the presentation of one or more visualinterfaces, such as the visual interfaces 1002, 1018, and 1022. Incertain embodiments, the tile 902 can be modified to include aninteractive element 1006. The interactive element 1006 can beinteractive to receive input to hide or remove the visual interfaces1002, 1018, and 1022 displayed in response to input from the previousdisplay 1005.

The visual interface 1002 can operate in a manner similar to the visualinterface 602. In some embodiments, the visual interface 1002 caninclude interactive elements 1008 and 1032 similar to the visualinterface 602. The visual interface 1002 can include an interactiveelement 1032 to enable dynamic adjustment of an attribute or settingrelated to operation of a group of devices that are powered in an “on”state, such as the device 302C among other light bulbs. As explainedabove with reference to FIG. 6, an adjustment can be determined based oninput received via the interactive element 1032. The adjustment can bebased on the movement or interaction with the interactive element 1032.The devices in the group can be controlled based on the adjustment. Theadjustment can be applied to the devices in a manner similar to thatdescribed for a single device or for a group of devices with referenceto FIG. 9. The interactive element 1008 can cause the visual interface1002, 1018, and/or 1022 to be removed or hidden from view in the display1010.

The visual interface 1018 can operate in a similar manner to the visualinterface 618. In some embodiments, the visual interface 1018 caninclude one or more interactive elements 1012, 1020, 1014, 1016 that aresimilar to those displayed in the visual interface 618. As explainedabove, the visual interface 618 can enable a user to specify a timeperiod for modifying an attribute or a setting of a device. Here, theinteractive elements 1020, 1014, 1016 can enable receipt orspecification of a time period. The interactive elements 1020 can enablea user to select one or more time periods for applying the adjustment toan attribute or a setting of the devices in the group corresponding tothe tile 902. The interactive element 1014 can enable a user to input acustomer time period instead of choosing a time period indicated by theinteractive element 1020. Similar to a single device, an adjustment toan attribute or a setting can be applied proportionally based on thetime period. The adjustment to an attribute or a setting can be appliedalso be applied individually to each of the devices in the group basedon the time period. In some embodiments, because the devices in thegroup may have a different status for a setting or an attribute, anadjustment can be applied based on the time with respect to eachindividual status. The adjustment can be applied in response tointeraction with the interactive element 1016 (e.g., “go to sleep”control) that initiates application of the adjustment.

In some embodiments, the display 1010 can include a visual interface1022. The visual interface 1022 can present information about eachdevice that is associated with the group of devices corresponding to thetile 902. For example, the visual interface 1022 can include one or moreinteractive elements for each device in the group. An interactiveelement 1024 can correspond to a first light bulb (e.g., “light bulb 1”)in the group and an interactive element 1026 can correspond to a secondlight bulb (e.g., “light bulb 2”) in the group. Each of the interactiveelements 1024, 1026 can be interactive to cause a light bulbcorresponding to the interactive element to be removed from the group.

FIG. 11 shows an exemplary display 1100 of an application executing onan access device according to an embodiment of the present invention.Specifically, the display 1100 shows an example of a visual interfacethat can be displayed by the application. The display 1100 can presentone or more interactive elements or interactive areas to enable controlof one or more devices in a network. For example, the display 1100 canbe presented in response to an interaction with the rules icon 520 orthe more icon 524. The display 1100 can include one or more elementsdescribed earlier, such as interactive elements included in FIG. 5. Insome embodiments, the display 1100 can be presented in response to aninteraction with the displays described with reference to FIGS. 5-10 oran interaction with a tile, such as any one of the tiles 502A-502C or902 described earlier. The interaction with the tile can includeinteraction with an interactive element in the tile.

In the example shown in FIG. 11, the display 1100 includes severalvisual interfaces 1102, 1110, 1120, and 1130. Each of the visualinterfaces 1102, 1110, 1120, and 1130, can correspond to a setting or anattribute to control a device (e.g., a light bulb). Each of the visualinterfaces 1102, 1110, 1120, and 1130 can be a modular tile. In someembodiments, the display 1100 can be used to control multiple devices,e.g., devices in a group. Although not shown, the visual interface 1100can include interactive elements to define one or more rules forcontrolling operation of a device. For example, a rule can be created tocontrol one or more settings for the device based on a time of day, adate, an event, etc. The visual interface 1100 can include one or moreof the visual interfaces 1102, 1110, 1120, and 1130 to be used tospecify settings corresponding to a rule.

In the example of FIG. 11, the visual interface 1102 can present aninteractive element 1104 to control a brightness setting. Theinteractive element 1104 can operate similarly to the interactiveelement 632. Input received from interaction with the interactiveelement 1104 can correspond to an adjustment of the brightness of alight bulb. The device can be updated based on the adjustment. In someembodiments, the adjustment can be communicated to the network to causethe light bulb to be updated. A status of the light bulb can be updatedbased on the adjustment and a modular tile corresponding to the lightbulb can be presented with the adjustment when the tile is displayed tothe user.

The visual interface 1110 can present a set of interactive elements suchas the interactive elements 1112-1118 to control a time period forapplying changes to attributes and/or settings. The interactive elements1112-1118 can operate similarly to those described with reference to thevisual interface 618 of FIG. 6. In some embodiments, the time period beapplied immediately upon selection of the interactive element 1118. Insuch embodiments, the interactive element 1112 can be updated toindicate a time remaining for the time period. In some embodiments thetime period can take effect once the display 1110 disappears. The timeperiod can be applied in different ways other than those describedherein.

The visual interface 1120 can present an interactive element 1122 toadjust a color temperature of a light bulb. The interactive element 1122can input to be received for adjusting a temperature for a light bulb.The interactive element 1122 can enable adjustment of the colortemperature within a range of values (e.g., a range of temperatures).The adjustment in the temperature can be applied to the bulb, which cancause the color emitted by the light bulb to change based on thetemperature setting.

The visual interface 1130 can present one or more interactive elements1132 to control a 3-way switch setting for a light bulb. The one or moreinteractive elements 1132 may correspond to multiple power settings forthe light bulb. For example, the interactive elements 1132 can enableselection between different a wattage (e.g., 10 w, 60 W, and 100 W)consumed by the bulb. The adjustment can indicate a change in thewattage or can include the actual wattage amount desired.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating embodiments of a process 1200 forcontrolling attributes and/or settings related to operation of a devicein accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.Specifically, the process 1200 provides a technique to remotely adjustsettings and/or attributes related to operation of a device that isconnected to a network. The technique can be implemented by a computingdevice (e.g., the access device 108 of FIG. 1) regardless of whether thecomputing device is within the local network or in remotely incommunication with the network. The techniques further enable a user tocontrol the devices in the network without having previously beenassociated with or connected to those devices.

Process 1200 is illustrated as a logical flow diagram, the operation ofwhich represents operations that can be implemented in hardware,computer instructions, or a combination thereof. In the context ofcomputer instructions, the operations represent computer-executableinstructions stored on one or more computer-readable storage media that,when executed by one or more processors, perform the recited operations.Generally, computer-executable instructions include routines, programs,applications, objects, components, data structures, and the like thatperform particular functions or implement particular data types. Theorder in which the operations are described is not intended to beconstrued as a limitation, and any number of the described operationscan be combined in any order and/or in parallel to implement theprocesses.

Additionally, the process 1200 may be performed under the control of oneor more computer systems configured with executable instructions and maybe implemented as code (e.g., executable instructions, one or morecomputer programs, or one or more applications) executing collectivelyon one or more processors, by hardware, or combinations thereof. Asnoted above, the code may be stored on a computer-readable storagemedium, for example, in the form of a computer program comprising aplurality of instructions executable by one or more processors. Thecomputer-readable storage medium may be non-transitory.

At 1202, the process 1200 can include determining that a device (e.g.,device 302A, device 302B or device 302C) is connected to a network(e.g., the network 300). Determining that a device is connected to anetwork can include locating a unique identified associated with thedevice. A unique identifier for the device can be received from thedevice itself or from the network. 1202 can be performed as part ofdiscovery process to identify devices in the network. The process 1200can be performed by a computing device that is not located within thenetwork (i.e., at a remote location outside the network).

At 1204, the process 1200 can include determining a current status ofthe device. Determining the current status can include determining thecurrent value of a setting or an attribute related to operation of thedevice. The status can include a current value of a setting or anattribute related to operation of the device. The current value of thesetting can be adjustable within a range of values. For example, thesetting can correspond to brightness of a light bulb that is adjustablewithin a range of values corresponding to lumens (e.g., a unit ofmeasure for brightness). The value can correspond to a brightness levelfor the light bulb. In some embodiments, the process 1200 can includedetermining whether the device is located within the network or outsideof the network. If the device is located within the network, the process1200 can receive the current status from the device or one or more otherdevices in the network. If the device is not located within the network,the process 1200 can receive the current status from a cache (e.g., thecache 308) at a cloud network (e.g., the cloud network 114) associatedwith the network to which the device is connected. In some embodiments,the process 1200 can determine the current status from a local cache ofthe computing device performing the process 1200.

At 1206, the process 1200 can include associating the current statuswith the device. In some embodiments, the current value of a setting oran attribute can be associated with the device. For example, the process1200 can store, a cache of a computing device (e.g., the cache 202 ofthe access device 108), the current status in association with thedevice (e.g., the device 302C).

At 1208, the process 1200 can include generating a graphical interface(e.g., any one of the displays 505, 605, 705, 805, 905, 1005) thatincludes an interactive area and that indicates a current status of thedevice. The interactive area can be interactive to adjust a currentvalue of the setting. For example, in FIG. 5, the tile 502C can beinteractive such that a motion of a finger across the tile 502C cancause a brightness of the light bulb associated with the tile 502C to beadjusted. At 1210, the process 1200 can include displaying the graphicalinterface.

At 1212, the process 1200 can include receiving input corresponding toan interaction with the interactive area. The input can correspond to anadjustment that indicates an amount to change a setting or an attributefrom the current value to an adjusted value. For example, an applicationexecuting on the access device 108 can receive via the display 505 aninput corresponding to a continuous movement starting from area 550 toarea 555 in the display 510. The input can correspond to an adjustment,which indicates an amount to change the setting (e.g., brightness) of adevice (e.g., the device 302C) from a current value (e.g., 0 lumens) toan adjusted value (e.g., lumens corresponding to 65% brightness of thelight bulb 302C). The adjustment can be determined based on the distancecorresponding to the movement from area 550 to area 555.

At 1214, the process 1200 can include transmitting the adjustment. Theadjustment can be transmitted to the network. In one example, if acomputing device performing the process 1200 is located in the network(e.g., local) to which the device 302C is connected, the adjustment canbe received within the updated status by the device 302C in the network.The adjustment can be received with an updated status of the device302C. The adjustment can be transmitted with the updated status to thenetwork via the cloud network 114 if the computing device is not locatedin the network. In some embodiments where the device 302C is not poweredto an “on” state, the device 302C can receive the updated status uponreconnecting to the network switching to an “on” state.

At 1216, the process 1200 can include modifying the graphical interfacebased on the adjustment. Continuing with the example discussed abovewith reference to FIG. 5, the display 505 can be modified to the display510. The tile 502C can be modified to be presented in the display 510.The tile 502C can indicate a modified status 506C of the device 302Cbased on the adjustment.

It will be appreciated that process 1200 is illustrative and thatvariations and modifications are possible. Steps described as sequentialmay be executed in parallel, order of steps may be varied, and steps maybe modified, combined, added or omitted. Process 1200 can be performedfor each device that is determined to be connected to the network. Itshould be noted that process 1200 can be performed concurrently forother devices that are determined to be connected to the network.Process 1200 can be performed for any number of settings and/orattributes that are related to operation of a device. Process 1200 canbe performed several times to make adjustments to a setting or anattribute related to operation of a device.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a front view of a network device 1300and FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a side view of the network device1300. The network device may include any of the network devices 102,104, 106, 302A, 302B, or 302C described herein. In some embodiments, thenetwork device 1300 may be a home automation network device. Forexample, the network device 1300 may include a home automation switchthat may be coupled with a home appliance. A user may wirelessly accessthe network device 1300 in order to access, control, and/or configurevarious home appliances located within the user's home. For instance,the user may remotely control appliances such as a television, radio,light, microwave, iron, space heater, wall A/C unit, washer, dryer, fan,and/or the like.

In some embodiments, the network device 1300 may include a WiFi enabledswitch that connects home appliances and other electronic devices to acompatible 802.11b/g/n WiFi network. The network device 1300 may thusallow users to locally or remotely turn devices on or off from anywhere,program customized notifications, and/or change device status. Thenetwork device 1300 may further allow a user to create custom schedulesor have devices respond to sunrise or sunset.

The network device 1300 includes an power switch 1302 that may bedepressed in order to turn the network device 1300 on and off. In someembodiments, a light source may be integrated with or located behind thepower switch. For example, a light-emitting diode (LED) may be locatedon a circuit board under the power button 1302. The light source may beilluminated when the network device 1300 is powered on, and may not beilluminated when the network device 1300 is powered off.

The network device 1300 further includes a communications signalindicator 1304. The signal indicator 1304 may indicate whether thenetwork device 1300 has access to a communications signal, such as aWiFi signal. For example, the signal indicator 1304 may include a lightsource (e.g., a LED) that illuminates when the network device 1300 isconnected to a communications signal. The light source may depictdifferent colors or other characteristics (e.g., flashing, dimming, orthe like) to indicate different levels of signal strength or mode ofoperation.

The network device 1300 includes a restore button 1410. The restorebutton 1410 may allow a user to reset the network device 1300 to factorydefault settings. For example, upon being depressed, the restore button1410, as shown in FIG. 14, may cause all software on the device to bereset to the settings that the network device 1300 included whenpurchased from the manufacturer.

In FIGS. 13 and 14, the network device 1300 further includes a plug 1408and an outlet 1306. The plug 1408 allows the network device 1300 to beplugged into a wall socket, such as a socket providing 120V, 220V, orthe like. In turn, an appliance may be plugged into the outlet 1306.Once the network device 1300 is registered according to the techniquesdescribed above, an appliance plugged into the socket 1306 may becontrolled by a user using an access device (e.g., access device 108).

FIG. 15 is an example of a block diagram of the network device 1300depicting different hardware and/or software components of the networkdevice 1300. As described above with respect to FIG. 13, the networkdevice 1300 includes the outlet 1306, the plug 1408, the power button1302, the restore button 1410, and the communications signal indicator1304. The network device 1300 also includes light source 1528 associatedwith the power button 1302. As previously described, the light source1528 may be illuminated when the network device 1300 is powered on.

The network device 1300 further includes a relay 1510. The relay 1510 isa switch that controls whether power is relayed from the plug 1408 tothe outlet 1306. The relay 1510 may be controlled either manually usingthe power button 1302 or remotes using wireless communication signals.For example, when the power button 1302 is in an ON position, the relay1510 may be closed so that power is relayed from the plug 1408 to theoutlet 1306. When the power button 1302 is in an OFF position, the relay1510 may be opened so that current is unable to flow from the plug 1408to the outlet 1306. As another example, an application or programrunning on an access device may transmit a signal that causes the relay1510 to be opened or closed. For instance, a mobile application maydisplay a graphical interface on the access device that includes a powerbutton. The user may tap or otherwise select the power button, and themobile application may send a communication signal (e.g., over a WiFinetwork) to the network device 1300 instructing the network device 1300to open or close the relay 1510.

The network device 1300 further includes flash memory 1520 and dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM) 1522. The flash memory 1520 may be used tostore instructions or code relating to an operating system, one or moreapplications, and any firmware. The flash memory 1520 may includenonvolatile memory so that any firmware or other program can be canupdated. In the event the network device 1300 loses power, informationstored in the flash memory 1520 may be retained. The DRAM 1522 may storevarious other types of information needed to run the network device1300, such as all runtime instructions or code.

The network device 1300 further includes a CPU/Radio 1518. The CPU/Radio1518 controls the operations of the network device 1300. For example,the CPU/Radio 1518 may execute various applications or programs storedin the flash memory 1520 and/or the dynamic random access memory (DRAM)1522. The CPU/Radio 1518 may also receive input from the varioushardware and software components, interpret the input, and perform oneor more functions in response to the input. As one example, theCPU/Radio 1518 may determine whether the power button 1302 has beenpressed, and determines whether the relay 1510 needs to be opened orclosed. The CPU/Radio 1518 may further perform all communicationsfunctions in order to allow the network device 1300 to communicate withother network devices, one or more gateways, a cloud network, and/or oneor more access devices. While the CPU and radio of the network device1300 are shown to be combined in the CPU/Radio 1518, one of ordinaryskill in the art will appreciate that, in some embodiments, the CPU andradio may be separately located within the network device 1300. Forexample, CPU circuitry may be situated at a separate location on acircuit board from the location of radio circuitry, the CPU circuitrymay be located on a different circuit board from the radio circuitry, orthe like.

The network device 1300 may communicate with other devices and/ornetworks via antenna 1524. For example, antenna 1524 may include a 2.4GHz antenna that can transmit and receive WiFi communications signals.The antenna 1524 may include other types of antennas that cancommunicate Bluetooth® signals, Zigbee® signals, Ultra-Wideband (UWB)signals, and/or the like. In some embodiments, the network device 1300may include multiple antennas for communicating different types ofcommunication signals.

The network device 1300 further includes a driver 1516, a switchingpower supply 1512, and a voltage regulator 1514. The driver 1516 mayinclude instructions or code that can be used to translate controlsignals or commands received from applications running on the DRAM 1522to commands that the various hardware components in the network device1300 can understand. In some embodiments, the driver 1516 may include anambient application running on the DRAM 1522. The switching power supply1512 may be used to transfer power from the outlet in which the plug1408 is connected to the various loads of the network device 1300 (e.g.,CPU/Radio 1518). The switching power supply 1512 may efficiently convertthe voltage and current characteristics of the electrical power to alevel that is appropriate for the components of the network device 1300.For example, the switching power supply 1512 may perform AC-DCconversion. In some embodiments, the switching power supply 1512 may beused to control the power that is relayed from the plug 1408 to theoutlet 1306. The voltage regulator 1514 may be used to convert thevoltage output from the switching power supply 1512 to a lower voltageusable by the CPU/Radio 1518. For example, the voltage regulator 1514may regulate the DC voltage from 5V to 3.3V.

In various embodiments, functions may be stored as one or morecomputer-program products, such as instructions or code, in anon-transitory machine-readable storage medium, such as the flash memory1520 and/or the DRAM 1522. The network device 1300 can also comprisesoftware elements (e.g., located within the memory), including, forexample, an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries,and/or other code, such as one or more application programs, which maycomprise computer programs implementing the functions provided byvarious embodiments, and/or may be designed to implement methods and/orconfigure systems, as described herein. Merely by way of example, one ormore procedures described with respect to the processes discussed above,for example as described with respect to FIGS. 1-4 and 12, may beimplemented as code and/or instructions executable by a computer (and/ora processor within a computer); in an aspect, then, such code and/orinstructions can be used to configure and/or adapt a general purposecomputer (or other device) to perform one or more operations inaccordance with the described methods. Such functions or code mayinclude code to perform the steps described above with respect to FIGS.1-4 and 12. The memory, such as the flash memory 1520 and/or the DRAM1522, may be a processor-readable memory and/or a computer-readablememory that stores software code (programming code, instructions, etc.)configured to cause a processor(s) within the CPU/Radio 1518 to performthe functions described. In other embodiments, one or more of thefunctions described may be performed in hardware.

A set of these instructions and/or code might be stored on anon-transitory machine-readable storage medium, such as the flash memory1520 and/or the DRAM 1522. In some cases, the storage medium might beincorporated within a computer system, such as the CPU/Radio 1518. Inother embodiments, the storage medium might be separate from a computersystem (e.g., a removable medium, such as a compact disc), and/orprovided in an installation package, such that the storage medium can beused to program, configure and/or adapt a general purpose computer withthe instructions/code stored thereon. These instructions might take theform of executable code, which is executable by the network device 1300and/or might take the form of source and/or installable code, which,upon compilation and/or installation on the network device 1300 (e.g.,using any of a variety of generally available compilers, installationprograms, compression/decompression utilities, etc.) then takes the formof executable code.

Substantial variations may be made in accordance with specificrequirements. For example, customized hardware might also be used,and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software(including portable software, such as applets, etc.), or both. Further,connection to other access or computing devices such as networkinput/output devices may be employed.

It should be appreciated that the network device 1300 may have othercomponents than those depicted in FIGS. 13, 14, and 15. Further, theembodiment shown in the figures are only one example of a network devicethat may incorporate an embodiment of the invention. In some otherembodiments, network device 1300 may have more or fewer components thanshown in the figure, may combine two or more components, or may have adifferent configuration or arrangement of components.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example of an access device 1600. The accessdevice 1600 may include any human-to-machine interface with networkconnection capability that allows access to a network. For example, theaccess device 1600 may include a stand-alone interface (e.g., a cellulartelephone, a smartphone, a home computer, a laptop computer, a tablet, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a computing device, a wearable devicesuch as a smart watch, a wall panel, a keypad, or the like), aninterface that is built into an appliance or other device (e.g.,television, refrigerator, security system, game console, browser, or thelike), a speech or gesture interface (e.g., Kinect™ sensor, Wiimote™, orthe like), an internet of things (IoT) device interface (e.g., anInternet enabled appliance such as a wall switch, a control interface,or the like). The access device 1600 includes hardware elements that canbe electrically coupled via a bus 1618 (or may otherwise be incommunication, as appropriate). In one embodiment, the bus 1618 can beused for the processor(s) 1602 to communicate between cores and/or withthe memory 1612. The hardware elements may include one or moreprocessors 1602, including without limitation one or moregeneral-purpose processors and/or one or more special-purpose processors(such as digital signal processing chips, graphics accelerationprocessors, and/or the like); one or more input devices 1616, which caninclude without limitation a camera, a mouse, a keyboard, a touchsensitive screen, a touch pad, a keypad, and/or the like; and one ormore output devices 1614, which can include, without limitation, adisplay, a printer, and/or the like.

The access device 1600 may include one or more wireless transceivers1606 connected to the bus 1618. The wireless transceiver 1606 may beoperable to receive a wireless signal 1610 via antenna 1608. Thewireless signal 1610 may be transmitted via a wireless network. In someembodiments, the wireless network may be any wireless network such as awireless local area network (e.g., local area network 100), such asWiFi, a Personal Access Network (PAN), such as Bluetooth® or Zigbee®, ora cellular network (e.g. a GSM, WCDMA, LTE, CDMA2000 network). Wirelesstransceiver 1606 may be configured to receive various radio frequency(RF) signals 1610 via antenna 1608 from one or more gateways, networkdevices, cloud networks, and/or the like. Access device 1600 may also beconfigured to decode and/or decrypt, via the DSP 1604 and/orprocessor(s) 1602, various signals received from one or more gateways,network devices, cloud networks, and/or the like.

The access device 1600 may further include (and/or be in communicationwith) one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage mediums orstorage devices (e.g., memory 1612), which can comprise, withoutlimitation, local and/or network accessible storage, and/or can include,without limitation, a disk drive, a drive array, an optical storagedevice, a solid-state storage device such as a random access memory(“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can be programmable,flash-updateable and/or the like. Such storage devices may be configuredto implement any appropriate data storage, including without limitation,various file systems, database structures, and/or the like.

In various embodiments, functions may be stored as one or morecomputer-program products, such as instructions or code, in memory 1612,such as RAM, ROM, FLASH, or disc drive, and executed by processor(s)1602 or DSP 1604. The access device 1600 can also comprise softwareelements (e.g., located within the memory 1612), including, for example,an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and/or othercode, such as one or more application programs, which may comprisecomputer programs implementing various functions. Memory 1612 may be anon-transitory machine-readable storage medium, processor-readablememory, and/or a computer-readable memory that stores the one or morecomputer-program products configured to cause the processor(s) 1602and/or DSP 1604 to perform the various functions. In other embodiments,the various functions described may be performed in hardware.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a server 1700. The server 1700includes hardware elements that can be electrically coupled via a bus1716 (or may otherwise be in communication, as appropriate). In oneembodiment, the bus 1716 can be used for the processor(s) 1702 tocommunicate between cores and/or with the memory 1712. The hardwareelements may include one or more processors 1702, including withoutlimitation one or more general-purpose processors and/or one or morespecial-purpose processors (such as digital signal processing chips,graphics acceleration processors, and/or the like), memory 1712, DSP1704, a wireless transceiver 1706, a bus 1716, and antenna 1708.Furthermore, in addition to the wireless transceiver 1706, server 1700can further include a network interface 1714 to communicate with anetwork (e.g., a local area network, a network of a preferred carrier,Internet, etc.).

The server 1700 may further include (and/or be in communication with)one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage mediums or storagedevices (e.g., memory 1712), which can comprise, without limitation,local and/or network accessible storage, and/or can include, withoutlimitation, a disk drive, a drive array, an optical storage device, asolid-state storage device such as a random access memory (“RAM”) and/ora read-only memory (“ROM”), which can be programmable, flash-updateableand/or the like. Such storage devices may be configured to implement anyappropriate data storage, including without limitation, various filesystems, database structures, and/or the like.

In various embodiments, functions may be stored as one or more one ormore computer-program products, such as instructions or code, in memory1712. The server 1700 can also comprise software elements (e.g., locatedwithin the memory), including, for example, an operating system, devicedrivers, executable libraries, and/or other code, such as one or moreapplication programs, which may comprise computer programs implementingthe functions provided by various embodiments, and/or may be designed toimplement methods and/or configure systems, as described herein. Merelyby way of example, one or more procedures described with respect to theprocesses discussed above, for example as described with respect toFIGS. 2 and 4, may be implemented as code and/or instructions executableby a computer (and/or a processor within a computer); in an aspect,then, such code and/or instructions can be used to configure and/oradapt a general purpose computer (or other device) to perform one ormore operations in accordance with the described methods. Such functionsor code may include code to perform the steps described above withrespect to FIGS. 1-4 and 12. The memory 1712 may be a non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium, processor-readable memory, and/or acomputer-readable memory that stores the one or more computer-programproducts configured to cause the processor(s) 1702 to perform thefunctions described. In other embodiments, one or more of the functionsdescribed may be performed in hardware.

A set of these instructions and/or code might be stored on anon-transitory machine-readable storage medium, such as the memory 1712.In some cases, the storage medium might be incorporated within acomputer system. In other embodiments, the storage medium might beseparate from a computer system (e.g., a removable medium, such as acompact disc), and/or provided in an installation package, such that thestorage medium can be used to program, configure and/or adapt a generalpurpose computer with the instructions/code stored thereon. Theseinstructions of one or more computer-program products might take theform of executable code, which is executable by the server 1700 and/ormight take the form of source and/or installable code, which, uponcompilation and/or installation on the server 1700 (e.g., using any of avariety of generally available compilers, installation programs,compression/decompression utilities, etc.) then takes the form ofexecutable code.

Substantial variations may be made in accordance with specificrequirements. For example, customized hardware might also be used,and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software(including portable software, such as applets, etc.), or both. Further,connection to other access or computing devices such as networkinput/output devices may be employed.

In the foregoing specification, aspects of the invention are describedwith reference to specific embodiments thereof, but those skilled in theart will recognize that the invention is not limited thereto. Variousfeatures and aspects of the above-described invention may be usedindividually or jointly. Further, embodiments can be utilized in anynumber of environments and applications beyond those described hereinwithout departing from the broader spirit and scope of thespecification. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to beregarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

In the foregoing description, for the purposes of illustration, methodswere described in a particular order. It should be appreciated that inalternate embodiments, the methods may be performed in a different orderthan that described. It should also be appreciated that the methodsdescribed above may be performed by hardware components or may beembodied in sequences of machine-executable instructions, which may beused to cause a machine, such as a general-purpose or special-purposeprocessor or logic circuits programmed with the instructions to performthe methods. These machine-executable instructions may be stored on oneor more machine readable mediums, such as CD-ROMs or other type ofoptical disks, floppy diskettes, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magneticor optical cards, flash memory, or other types of machine-readablemediums suitable for storing electronic instructions. Alternatively, themethods may be performed by a combination of hardware and software.

Where components are described as being configured to perform certainoperations, such configuration can be accomplished, for example, bydesigning electronic circuits or other hardware to perform theoperation, by programming programmable electronic circuits (e.g.,microprocessors, or other suitable electronic circuits) to perform theoperation, or any combination thereof.

While illustrative embodiments of the application have been described indetail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may beotherwise variously embodied and employed, and that the appended claimsare intended to be construed to include such variations, except aslimited by the prior art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:generating, by a computing device, a graphical interface, wherein thegraphical interface includes an interactive area corresponding to anetwork device, wherein the network device is associated with currentvalues of multiple operation settings, wherein each operation setting ofthe multiple operations settings is associated with a differentattribute of the network device, and wherein the interactive areaincludes a modifiable feature of an image; displaying the graphicalinterface including the modifiable feature of the image; receiving afirst input at the interactive area corresponding to the network device,wherein when the first input is received, the graphical interfacechanges to a new state, wherein when the graphical interface in the newstate receives an additional input, the additional input controls anoperation setting of the network device; receiving a second inputcorresponding to an interaction at the graphical interface, wherein thesecond input includes a movement in a first direction with respect tothe graphical interface, and wherein the second input indicates anadjustment of a first operation setting of the network device from acurrent value to an adjusted value, and wherein the second inputindicating the adjustment of the first operation of the network devicewas enabled by the first input; transmitting the adjusted firstoperation setting of the network device, wherein when the adjusted firstoperation setting is received at the network device, the first operationsetting of the network device is adjusted based on the adjusted value,and wherein adjusting the first operation setting causes the networkdevice to generate a confirmation signal; receiving a third inputcorresponding to an interaction at the graphical interface, wherein thethird input includes a movement in a second direction different than thefirst direction with respect to the interactive area, and wherein thethird input indicates an adjustment of a second operation setting of thenetwork device from a current value to a second adjusted value, andwherein the third input indicating the adjustment of the secondoperation of the network device was enabled by the first input;transmitting the adjusted second operation setting of the networkdevice, wherein when the adjusted second operation setting is receivedat the network device, the second operation setting of the networkdevice is adjusted based on the second adjusted value; determiningwhether the confirmation signal has been received, wherein when theconfirmation signal is received at the computing device, theconfirmation signal causes the computing device to dynamically modifythe modifiable feature of the image to represent the adjusted firstoperation setting of the network device, and wherein modifying themodifiable feature indicates that the confirmation signal has beenreceived and that the first operation setting of the network device hasbeen adjusted; and displaying the modified modifiable feature of theimage on the graphical interface.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereincomputing devices are coupled to network devices and are capable ofcontrolling network device operations.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving a communication including a unique identifier forthe network device; and determining an interface module based on theunique identifier, wherein the graphical interface is generated inresponse to executing the interface module.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the graphical interface indicates a status of the networkdevice, wherein the modified modifiable feature indicates a modifiedstatus of the network device, and wherein the modified status isdetermined using the adjustment of the first operation setting.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first input corresponds to a continuousmovement in the interactive area, and wherein the adjustment of thefirst operation setting corresponds to a distance of the movement in theinteractive area.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving input corresponding to a selection of an interactive element,wherein the interactive element is displayed in the graphical interface,wherein the selection indicates a time period, and wherein the firstoperation setting is changed over the time period based on an amountindicated by the adjustment of the first operation setting.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a response indicatingthat the first operation setting has been changed at the network devicebased on the adjustment of the first operation setting; and updating themodified modifiable feature displayed on the graphical interface toindicate that the network device has been adjusted according to theadjustment of the first operation setting.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein the response is received via a transmission from the networkdevice.
 9. A system, comprising: one or more data processors; and anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructionswhich when executed on the one or more data processors, cause the one ormore data processors to perform operations including: generating, by acomputing device, a graphical interface, wherein the graphical interfaceincludes an interactive area corresponding to a network device, whereinthe network device is associated with current values of multipleoperation settings, wherein each operation setting of the multipleoperations settings is associated with a different attribute of thenetwork device, and wherein the interactive area includes a modifiablefeature of an image; displaying the graphical interface including themodifiable feature of the image; receiving a first input at theinteractive area corresponding to the network device, wherein when thefirst input is received, the graphical interface changes to a new state,wherein when the graphical interface in the new state receives anadditional input, the additional input controls an operation setting ofthe network device; receiving a second input corresponding to aninteraction at the graphical interface, wherein the second inputincludes a movement in a first direction with respect to the graphicalinterface, and wherein the second input indicates an adjustment of afirst operation setting of the network device from a current value to anadjusted value, and wherein the second input indicating the adjustmentof the first operation of the network device was enabled by the firstinput; transmitting the adjusted first operation setting of the networkdevice, wherein when the adjusted first operation setting is received atthe network device, the first operation setting of the network device isadjusted based on the adjusted value, and wherein adjusting the firstoperation setting causes the network device to generate a confirmationsignal; receiving a third input corresponding to an interaction at thegraphical interface, wherein the third input includes a movement in asecond direction different than the first direction with respect to theinteractive area, and wherein the third input indicates an adjustment ofa second operation setting of the network device from a current value toa second adjusted value, and wherein the third input indicating theadjustment of the second operation of the network device was enabled bythe first input; transmitting the adjusted second operation setting ofthe network device, wherein when the adjusted second operation settingis received at the network device, the second operation setting of thenetwork device is adjusted based on the second adjusted value;determining whether the confirmation signal has been received, whereinwhen the confirmation signal is received at the computing device, theconfirmation signal causes the computing device to dynamically modifythe modifiable feature of the image to represent the adjusted firstoperation setting of the network device, and wherein modifying themodifiable feature indicates that the confirmation signal has beenreceived and that the first operation setting of the network device hasbeen adjusted; and displaying the modified modifiable feature of theimage on the graphical interface.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein thesystem includes an access device.
 11. The system of claim 9, furthercontaining instructions which when executed on the one or more dataprocessors, cause the one or more data processors to perform operationsincluding: determining a current value of an additional setting relatedto operation of the network device, wherein the additional setting isadjustable between a plurality of values, and wherein the current valueis indicated by the graphical interface; receiving an additional inputvia an additional interactive area in the graphical interface, whereinthe additional input corresponds to an additional adjustment thatindicates an amount to change the additional setting from the currentvalue to an adjusted value, wherein the first input corresponds to acontinuous movement in a first direction in the interactive area, andwherein the additional input corresponds to a continuous movement in asecond direction in the additional interactive area; transmitting theadditional adjustment, wherein the operation of the network device iscontrolled based on the additional adjustment; and wherein the modifiedmodifiable feature provides an indication of the adjusted value of theadditional setting.
 12. The system of claim 9, wherein determining thecurrent value of the first operation setting includes receiving acommunication from the network device, the communication including acurrent status of the network device, and wherein the current status ofthe network device indicates a current setting.
 13. The system of claim9, wherein the adjustment of the first operation setting is transmittedto a server of a cloud network, and wherein the adjustment of the firstoperation setting is received by the network device from the server ofthe cloud network via the network.
 14. The system of claim 9, furthercontaining instructions which when executed on the one or more dataprocessors, cause the one or more data processors to perform operationsincluding: receiving a response indicating that the first operationsetting has been changed at the network device based on the adjustmentof the first operation setting; and updating the modified modifiablefeature to indicate that the network device has been adjusted accordingto the adjustment of the first operation setting.
 15. The system ofclaim 9, wherein devices are coupled to network devices capable ofcontrolling device operations.
 16. The system of claim 9, wherein thegraphical interface indicates a status of the network device, whereinthe modified modifiable feature indicates a modified status of thenetwork device, and wherein the modified status is determined using theadjustment of the first operation setting.
 17. The system of claim 9,wherein the first input corresponds to a continuous movement in theinteractive area, and wherein the adjustment corresponds to a distanceof the movement in the interactive area.
 18. The system of claim 9,further containing instructions which when executed on the one or moredata processors, cause the one or more data processors to performoperations including: receiving input corresponding to a selection of aninteractive element, wherein the interactive element is displayed in thegraphical interface, wherein the selection indicates a time period, andwherein the first operation setting is changed based on an amountgradually during the time period.
 19. A computer-program producttangibly embodied in a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium,including instructions configured to cause a data processing apparatusto perform operations including: generating, by a computing device, agraphical interface, wherein the graphical interface includes aninteractive area corresponding to a network device, wherein the networkdevice is associated with current values of multiple operation settings,wherein each operation setting of the multiple operations settings isassociated with a different attribute of the network device, and whereinthe interactive area includes a modifiable feature of an image;displaying the graphical interface including the modifiable feature ofthe image; receiving a first input at the interactive area correspondingto the network device, wherein when the first input is received, thegraphical interface changes to a new state, wherein when the graphicalinterface in the new state receives an additional input, the additionalinput controls an operation setting of the network device; receiving asecond input corresponding to an interaction at the graphical interface,wherein the second input includes a movement in a first direction withrespect to the graphical interface, and wherein the second inputindicates an adjustment of a first operation setting of the networkdevice from a current value to an adjusted value, and wherein the secondinput indicating the adjustment of the first operation of the networkdevice was enabled by the first input; transmitting the adjusted firstoperation setting of the network device, wherein when the adjusted firstoperation setting is received at the network device, the first operationsetting of the network device is adjusted based on the adjusted value,and wherein adjusting the first operation setting causes the networkdevice to generate a confirmation signal; receiving a third inputcorresponding to an interaction at the graphical interface, wherein thethird input includes a movement in a second direction different than thefirst direction with respect to the interactive area, and wherein thethird input indicates an adjustment of a second operation setting of thenetwork device from a current value to a second adjusted value, andwherein the third input indicating the adjustment of the secondoperation of the network device was enabled by the first input;transmitting the adjusted second operation setting of the networkdevice, wherein when the adjusted second operation setting is receivedat the network device, the second operation setting of the networkdevice is adjusted based on the second adjusted value; determiningwhether the confirmation signal has been received, wherein when theconfirmation signal is received at the computing device, theconfirmation signal causes the computing device to dynamically modifythe modifiable feature of the image to represent the adjusted firstoperation setting of the network device, and wherein modifying themodifiable feature indicates that the confirmation signal has beenreceived and that the first operation setting of the network device hasbeen adjusted; and displaying the modified modifiable feature of theimage on the graphical interface.
 20. The computer-program product ofclaim 19, wherein the graphical interface indicates a status of thenetwork device, wherein the modified modifiable feature indicates amodified status of the network device, and wherein the modified statusis determined using the adjustment of the first operation setting.